The Life of a Renegade
by Lynsandria
Summary: Instead of Dirk finding him, Yuan took Lloyd in and raised him as a renegade. Lloyd was raised to believe Kratos killed his parents. With a reflected world and alternative outcomes, he tries to find himself with as few deaths as possible. Sheloyd
1. Prologue

Me: I own nothing! I don't own the clothes on my back, my parents do. I don't own this computer, my parents do. And I don't own ToS!

Summery: Yuan finds Lloyd in the Iselia forest instead of Dirk. He knows that he would weaken Kratos, so he raises Lloyd and teaches him to hate Kratos. Lloyd still has Anna's exsphere and also gets wings sooner. Lloyd lives in both Tethe'alla and Sylvarant, wherever Yuan is at the time. Lloyd acts slightly more like Yuan, but not too much. Lloyd can still act like the first Lloyd, but in the sense that he plays pranks on people. Instead of Zelos, Lloyd is the renegade spy. Sheena starts suspecting that Lloyd is betraying them, but she doesn't know about him being a renegade. Yuan slightly grows closer to Lloyd in a fatherly way, despite what he vowed never to do.

Lloyd wears different clothes. His clothes resemble Yuan's a lot, except for the fact that he wears a pair of black pants and a white cape. Also, the red of his top is a lot darker. And his boots are white. His hair is also long and tied up like Yuan's only with a white ribbon. Also, he wears a dark blue head band with some sort of white runes on them.

When Lloyd lived in Tethe'alla, he met up with Zelos. So he's childhood friends with him and did whatever he could to keep in touch. He also met with Sheena, but they don't remember it too well. If it weren't for Zelos, Lloyd would have been a very, **very,** serious child. The pairings will probably include SheenaxLloyd (sorry if you hate that pairing but Lloyd was raised in ways against the chosen so Colette didn't seem right) and probably ZelosxColette (maybe). There will be one-sided Gelette, but only because Lloyd isn't there for Colette. And maybe a little GenisxPresea.

Ready…? BEGIN!

* * *

-Prologue-

* * *

A woman's screams echoed throughout the forest. As they went on, the sounded more and more monstrous, the poor woman was obviously suffering. Yuan steadily closed his eyes. He had warned Kratos, oh how he had warned him. He had told him that he should avoid love, that it would only bring pain. He had warned him that his lover and child would eventually grow older than him. But Kratos had been blinded by his love for Anna.

What Yuan was interested in was his son, Lloyd. After all, he knew that he might need Lloyd to work with Kratos.

Piercing noises filled the air. Yuan flinched, despite himself. That poor woman must be going through hell right now.

The view from the back of the tree was very good. He watched as Kratos was battling the monster. Yuan soon looked away, disgusted. Deep down, he hated watching people die. And this woman was no exception.

A load screeching noise filled the air. Yuan turned from around the tree. The monster called Anna had fallen of that cliff. Yuan flinched, imagining the pain Anna felt. Kratos appeared to be looking desperately around. Where was Lloyd?

When he couldn't find Lloyd, Kratos collapsed on the ground, crying. _That isn't right,_ thought Yuan. _Anna must have died due to wounds, but no matter how young Lloyd was, the fall shouldn't have been fatal._

* * *

Sneaking around the cliff area so Kratos wouldn't see him, Yuan disappeared deep into the forest, following the ruble. When he heard quiet moaning sounds, he placed his hand on his sword. But, when approached closer, he saw that Anna had turned back into a human and was clutching a baby. He kneeled down next to her. "Anna, are you alright?"

"Y-Yuan," chocked Anna. "Wh-what do you w-want?"

"Hmm, I see," said Yuan, examining Anna's wound. "With this wound, there's no hope for you to survive."

"P-please," said Anna, who was having trouble breathing. "I-I don't care about me, but m-my son."

"Lloyd?" whispered Yuan.

"Y-yes," said Anna. She didn't have long. "P-please. If y-you have any love in that heart of yours, please let him live. And p-please, g-give him my exsphere." With that, her breath stopped. Yuan checked for a pulse. Nothing. Lloyd gave a cry, bringing Yuan's attention towards him.

"What should I do with you?" whispered Yuan, holding the small child. He could give him to Kratos but what would happen then? Mithos wouldn't leave Kratos alone; Lloyd would be raised as a child of Cruxis. Yuan knew that the last thing he needed was a new angel in Cruxis. He could leave him in Iselia, but what if Kratos found him?

Then, a thought came into his head. What if he raised Lloyd? He could raise him to hate cruxis and Kratos. Lloyd would become the ultimate weapon against Kratos. Kratos would be at Yuan's knees. Yuan looked down at the young child in his arms. "Welcome to your new life," he whispered. "Lloyd Yggdrasil."

* * *

Me: Don't look at me like that; Yuan has no last name so I borrowed Martel's. And Lloyd Yggdrasil sounds so cool. Anyway, we'll go through Lloyd's child hood first. Please review! 


	2. New Friends, New Life

Me: 5 reviews for chapter 1! I'm so honored. Thank you all!

**Holly EverGreen:** Thank you for complimenting my story! Usually I write really long chapters but this was short because 1. It was the prologue; I thought it would be better short.

And 2. I was hurrying so my parents could use this computer (like I said, it's not my computer). Thanks again!

**Scientific Angel: **It's official; when I take over the world, you get to be queen (or king, whatever you want) of the Americas. And I may not update other stories as often because I'm trying to keep up with all of them.

**Meowzy-chan: **Yay! Thank you! As to the Yuan and Kratos pairing, it depends on how you see things. In most of the story, Kratos hates everything about Yuan because he turned Lloyd against him. I don't want to give anything away though. But, I don't think that there will be a Yuan and Kratos pairing, sorry!

**Heisui: **Thank you so much! Even if the reviews are short like yours, I feel happy, happy yay yay!

**Mttnoonan: **No! Don't let your head eat you! Thanks for reading.

Now, remember, I own nothing except for this plot and renegade Lloyd. Please don't steal them; they're all I have! Without them, I'm nothing but a pitiful hobo! And I forgot to mention this but renegade Lloyd happens to have a little of a sixth sense. In other words, he sees ghosts sometimes. Believe me, this will be important later. And this chapter Lloyd and Yuan live in Tethe'alla. Lloyd is about 7, so Zelos is 11 and Sheena is 9. Lloyd wears mostly a black cloak with conceals his clothes most of the time, but he also wears a gray tunic and white pants. He had two swords (not toy sword, Yuan's bad with kids). His hair isn't too long at the moment, just reaching his neck. Also he has Anna's exsphere. Unlike the normal Lloyd, this Lloyd usually has either a scowl or no expression on his face.

Yuan still looks the same and Zelos and Sheena will be described in the story. But, with Sheena, it doesn't actually say her name.

* * *

Ready…? BEGIN!

* * *

Chapter 2: New Friends, New Life

* * *

"Remember Lloyd," said Yuan, looking down at the young child. "If they ask, I am an elf and you're indebted to me. Don't tell the chosen the truth tight away."

The young child gazed at him with his sad, hazel eyes. He gave a small nod. Lloyd had changed much in the four years living with Yuan. At first he was a little pigheaded and stupid. You wouldn't believe that he was Kratos' child. Soon, however, he had started acting more like Yuan. Yuan almost felt bad, destroying the happy Lloyd. But, he knew it was necessary to make the weapon that would destroy Kratos.

With that, Yuan knocked on the door of the mansion. He wanted to get this over with; he didn't really like Meltokio. A few minutes later, a butler opened the door. "Oh, you're here," he said. "Master Zelos is upstairs."

"Excellent," said Yuan. "My name is Yuan and I'm an elf from Heimdall. This is Lloyd. He is indebted to me and needs to pay me back, so he's working for me on this journey."

"Very well," said the butler, bowing out of the way. Following Yuan up the stairs; Lloyd hardly noticed the fine things around him. He had been sad like this since he heard what Yuan told him.

* * *

A young red haired boy of about 11 sat in a fairly comfortable chair. His hair fell down his back and was tied up in a neat ribbon. He wore clothes that were fine looking, but obviously uncomfortable. They appeared to be a sort of very fancy and black tuxedo. He had his arms crossed but had a sly smile on his face.

"You're Yuan right?" he said, smugly.

Yuan flinched lightly. He wasn't to good with kids. "Yes," he said, struggling not to attack the child. "Tethe'alla has flourished for many years, obviously we don't want to fail. So, the king has ordered me, your future escort to teach you how to fight with the sword. He seems to be paranoid. Well, I will train you. I own a place in the mountains; we'll train there. I can pick you up tomorrow."

"Let's just get this over with," said Zelos, slightly more smugly.

_Yes, lets,_ thought Yuan. He already knew that he wouldn't be able to stand this guy. "I'll go tell your guardian. Lloyd, you can stay here."

Lloyd knew that Yuan just wanted to leave Zelos. Yet, he didn't protest. He respected Yuan.

As soon as Yuan was out of earshot, Zelos turned towards Lloyd. "He can't seriously be your father, can he?"

Lloyd turned slightly towards to Zelos. Should he talk? Well, why no? "No, he's not." Lloyd hardly ever talked.

"Then why are you with him?" said Zelos.

This kid wouldn't leave him alone. He was starting to get annoyed. "Because my parents are dead."

"You poor thing!" shouted Zelos.

_Great,_ thought Lloyd. _The last thing I need is his pity._

"You have **him** for a fatherly figure?" he said, his eyes wide.

_I don't think I'll be able to stand this guy, _thought Lloyd. _I can't wait for this to be over._

"I really hope you're not as depressing as your father," said Zelos, not noticing that Lloyd was completely annoyed by him.

"He's not my father," whispered Lloyd, but Zelos paid no heed. He continued on about how he would teach Lloyd to have fun and not waste his life away. After what seemed like hours, Yuan reentered. Lloyd hardly listened to him talk about Zelos. He only followed him out as he left.

* * *

Lloyd sat on his cot. He had never lived in an actual house before. He had always been at the renegade base. His mind went back to that night about two years ago. When Yuan had told him about the monster Kratos.

* * *

Two years ago… 

_A younger Lloyd sat against the wall of Yuan's office. Yuan had called him here to tell him something terrible. Yuan was visiting with Botta about something. It would be a while until Yuan talked with him. But Lloyd had learned to be quite and sit for hours without doing anything. Finally, Botta nodded and left. Yuan turned his head towards Lloyd._

"_Lloyd, I called you here," he said, a grim expression on his face. "To tell you about your parents."_

_Lloyd nodded. He tried to avoid talking usually._

"_Obviously, I'm not your father," said Yuan, sitting in his chair. "After all, you're a human, a pure blood, and I'm a half elf. It was about a year ago."_

_Lloyd sat up. He always wanted to know about his parents._

"_I was wandering the Iselia forest," said Yuan, looking at the ceiling now. "After a few hours, I happened to hear screams. I ran as fast as I could in the direction they came from. I eventually came to a large clearing. There, I found a man named Kratos Aurion."_

_Lloyd listened even more intently. Was this Kratos possibly his father?_

"_Kratos was an old friend of mine," said Yuan, turning his head towards Lloyd. "So I started to greet him. Yet, then I saw his bloody sword, fresh blood dripping down it. So I looked around him. There lay two people, bleeding to death. I demanded to know why Kratos had done that terrible deed. Those two people had got in the way of Cruxis. They had killed an army of angels. For that, Kratos had killed them in cold blood. The bodies were so bloody and tortured that I could hardly believe that the woman was still alive. Her husband's face was so mutilate; I couldn't see any features. But she begged me to look after her son and his exsphere. With that, she died. And those two people whom were tortured and killed by Kratos were your parents."_

_Yuan gazed at Lloyd's face. A look of shock had appeared on it. Then, Lloyd buried his face in his small hands, tears falling out. "Th-that Kratos is a monster! How could he do that?" cried the young Lloyd. Yuan felt a pang of sorrow for the poor boy. He actually felt bad about lying to him. But, what choice did he have? If he told him the truth, Lloyd wouldn't grow with hatred towards Kratos and his plan would be ruined. Lloyd would cry deep into the night…_

_End of Flashback…_

* * *

Now Lloyd sat on his bed, thinking about that story. He hated Kratos mostly because Kratos could have just killed his parents. But he had tortured them as well. And he could see his father's face covered in blood, impossible to see anything human. Hearing that story had filled him with a hate that no young child should ever feel. He wanted to kill Kratos.

* * *

Zelos arrived the next day. Lloyd had pretended to be asleep, just to avoid him. But Zelos didn't buy it. "Hey Lloyd!" he said loudly as soon as Yuan had left. "Get up! Chop, chop! You shouldn't sleep through a day like this."

Lloyd knew that he could no longer fake being asleep. He sat up, pretending to rub his eyes. "Is Yuan's training hard?" demanded Zelos.

"Hmm?' said Lloyd. "Oh, yes at first but it gets better."

"Good, good," said Zelos, eagerly. "Come on! Let's have fun!"

"Wha?" said Lloyd. He still didn't quite get it.

"Come on!" shouted Zelos, pulling Lloyd around. "I'm going to teach you how to have fun!"

_Is this guy for real?_ Wondered Lloyd, not even paying attention to where Zelos was dragging him. They seemed to be just wandering through the forest with no real place to go. At least they weren't in the Gagoroachi forest; they were near it but not quite there.

"Here!" shouted Zelos to Lloyd who still didn't pat attention to what he was doing. Zelos had led him to a strange village.

"Um, Zelos," said Lloyd, trying to pull him back. "I think this is Mizuho. Outsiders aren't supposed to be here."

"Aw relax!" said Zelos fairly loudly. Lloyd kneeled down to be safe, in case someone heard Zelos. "If I tell them that I'm the chosen, well, they won't harm either of us."

"Whatever," said Lloyd. Zelos obviously wouldn't leave him alone until he at least tried one of his crazy ideas.

"Come on!" said Zelos loudly again making Lloyd kneel once more. "I bet that we can play with those kids." He pointed ahead of them. There appeared to be a group of kids.

"Fine," whispered Lloyd. When the people of Mizuho chased them out, then maybe Zelos would leave him alone. He followed behind Zelos. He, however, didn't want to meet the other kids. He had never really met any others.

But as they walked closer, they saw that the kids weren't actually playing. They were surrounded in a circle. "Oh geez," said Zelos, starting to back up. "I though these guys were playing. But hey, it let's get out. It's better to get out if here."

"Why?" said Lloyd quietly.

"What?" said Zelos, looking surprised to hear Lloyd talk.

"Why?" said Lloyd, looking him in the eyes. "That person's in trouble. Why should we leave her?"

"Well," said Zelos, stepping back. "We may make friends with the girl in trouble. But, we'll make enemies with the people around her."

"So?" said Lloyd walking foreword.

"Well, I want to be on the winning side," said Zelos, backing up more.

"Okay," said Lloyd. "You can make that decision." He started walking closer and closer to the circle.

"Crap," whispered Zelos. "I'm getting out of here." He retreated to the forest.

* * *

This is from the girl's POV…

I leaned down on the ground. Those people were surrounding me. There was no place to go.

"Hey!" shouted one of the children. "Why did you kill my parents?"

"And mine too!" demanded another.

What they don't know is that I have no answer. I didn't mean to kill their parents. But people can't accept that. I plead with them; I tell them it was an accident. The adults pretend to understand. They look me in the eyes and tell me that it's okay; that it's not my fault. But I can see them looking at me; they wish that I would just die. Even Kuchinawa avoids me. All I can do is cry. But crying doesn't help. I am a murderer and no tears can stop that. I deserve this pain.

They start to throw stones at me. I don't care; I just take them. My back stings now and there's nothing that I can do.

Suddenly they stop. Why? I look up. There's a boy wearing strange clothes defending me. Why does he defend a murderer? Why?

* * *

Normal POV…

* * *

"Why are you doing this?" demanded Lloyd. He didn't know why he was doing this. But he couldn't watch this girl suffer anymore.

"Why shouldn't we?" demanded a child. "She killed our parents."

Lloyd glanced down at the girl. Her black hair was everywhere, covering most of her. She wore a dark blue kimono and had sad, brown eyes. "Do you honestly think that a girl this young would kill anyone on purpose?"

"She did!" shouted a young boy. "Why does an outsider like you care?"

"Go to hell," said Lloyd in a mature voice. Most of the kids jumped back. No one would expect a seven year old to use those words. Immediately they ran away. Lloyd turned towards the girl. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," whispered the girl. "Why did you help me?"

"I couldn't bear to see you like that anymore," said Lloyd. "You shouldn't let them just do that to you."

"But it's all true," said the girl, looking at the ground. "I am a murderer. I deserve to die."

"I don't know if you truly are a murderer," said Lloyd. "But I don't think you deserve to die. You need to repent for those deaths if you caused them. If you die, that won't happen."

"Hmm," said the girl, looking interested. "You're right. Thank you."

"No problem," said Lloyd. "Here, do you want to play with us."

"I'm sorry," said the girl. "But I really have to go. I worried about grandpa."

"Okay, maybe some other time," said Lloyd. Was he smiling?

"Sure," said the girl, a sad smile on her face. She walked off. Lloyd watched her go then walked back into the forest.

* * *

"Zelos!" he called out. "Zelos!" The boy didn't hear a response. Lloyd then assumed that he had headed back home. He started off there himself.

A twig snapped. Lloyd placed his hand on his swords, ready to attack like Yuan had trained him. But when he turned around, he saw Zelos walking towards him. "Zelos," he whispered, walking towards him. Zelos didn't have his stupid smile on his face. He actually looked serious. "Zelos?" whispered Lloyd.

"It's Yuan," whispered Zelos. "He told me about the truth of regeneration."

"Oh," said Lloyd. "You mean how the chosen needs to be sacrificed for Martel's vessel?"

"Yes," said Zelos. "Now my life is worthless."

"It is not," said Lloyd. "No life should be born for the sole purpose of dying."

"Is that what you think?" asked Zelos. "What about animals? We eat them all the time, sacrificing their life for ours." With that, Zelos turned towards the house, leaving Lloyd to think about life.

* * *

Me: While I was writing, we got a new reviewer!

**Nife: **(Stupid computer couldn't get your true name) Thank you. Wahoo! The next chapter is here! And before I forget...

**J.G. The Gamer: **I thank you for being honest about how you feel about the story. As I said before, I do usually make chapters longer, just a few things got in the way last time. And there's a reason I didn't make up Yuan's last name: it will be explained later that he had problems with his family and was disowned. After that, he left and had no last name FOREVER! And he just wanted to remember Martel, so he gave her last name to Lloyd. And in this chapter, Yuan is slightly like a father, but he doesn't show it. He already feels guilty for making Lloyd like this. That's why he didn't get angry at Zelos for playing with Lloyd; part of him still wanted Lloyd to be the happy child he once was. Thank you again.

Like I said, if it wasn't for Zelos, Lloyd would have been a very serious child. We don't have much of his childhood left. In fact, I think next time will be around present day (when you first start the game). And like I said before, there will be **mild** one-sided Gelette. But, that's because Lloyd isn't there to save Colette. And these are **important **changes:

Genis isn't quite as happy- go- lucky as he usually is. That's because most of the time, he studies. Colette is his only friend whom is near his age.

Genis is friends with Dirk and hides there when the Desians see him saving Marble.

The mayor isn't as much of a SOB because Lloyd isn't there to annoy him. He doesn't blame Genis for being at the ranch.

Genis travels with Raine when they decide that Iselia isn't safe for him.

Yuan sends Lloyd to watch the chosen.

Lloyd **will** fight Colette but doesn't really discover whom Kratos is until later.

Sheena seems to slightly remember Lloyd but her memories are foggy.

That's all the changes for now. And Yuan seems really evil now. Well, he is now. But deep down he actually has fatherly feelings for him. Tee hee, are you jealous Kratos?

Kratos: What do you mean?

Me: Yuan's more like a father than you are now! And he's terrible with kids!

Kratos: Why?

Me: Didn't you see it? Lloyd had real weapons for toys! Anyway, I actually might have more of Lloyd's childhood, but I'll have to have my muses help. Until then, See you later!


	3. Growing Up

Oh my! 8 reviews! I can die happy now.

**Holly EverGreen: **Yeah, Lloyd is more mature. Yuan made sure about that. And because he's not the very best of parents, well, he cursed at Lloyd a lot. A **lot**. I **will** keep up my work forever!

**Heisui: **Yay! My story's interesting! Thank you!

**Brandy Mallory: **(computer forever evil) Thank you so much!

**Scientific Angel: **You are awesome. Thank you so much and when it comes to my characters, I try to think up a way for them to be most human. You are still awesome.

**Master Summoner Sheena: **Thank you so much! I am honored.

**Meowzy-chan: **Yeah, I did quote Lloyd. Sorry about they're being no Kratos and Yuan pairing. Sorry. _Bows._

**J.G. The Gamer: **Thanks for reviewing. Yeah, I'm trying to have people have mixed feelings about Yuan. Part of him sees Lloyd as a son that he never had and the other sees him as a weapon that will destroy Kratos. He does feel guilty, but he'll admit that to none. Yeah, Lloyd has a natural sense of justice; a remnant of the old Lloyd. And Zelos helped Lloyd learn that life was too short to take seriously. Yeah, the mayor is still an SOB, just not quite as of a big one.

**Berserk1: **Thank you! When I get reviews like this, updating fanfictions becomes the reason I live.

And, now let's look into what Yuan has been doing with Lloyd:

A 5-year-old Lloyd sits in front of Yuan, his eyes huge. Yuan was talking to Lloyd about something.

Yuan: And that's where baby's come from. Now, let's see… _Opens book," Parenting for dummies"_

Botta: Um, you were supposed to teach him when he's 13, not 5

Um, yes this chapter is several different years. First one is a 9-year-old Lloyd saying goodbye to Zelos and Sheena (man, they still don't know each other's names). Then, comes a 13-year-old Lloyd who's with Yuan listening to the story of Cruxis and why Yuan doesn't have a last name. Then a pointless story with a 15-year-old Lloyd training with Botta. Then, there's the present day starting the regeneration journey (with a twist).

* * *

Ready…? BEGIN!

* * *

Chapter 3: Growing Up

* * *

Lloyd sat on a stone, watching the sun set behind the mountains. How long had they lived here? About two years, which may have been the two best years of his life. But deep down he knew that they would eventually come to an end. He knew that soon it would be time to return to the Triet dessert base where he would keep himself alive by training with weapons. He would never see Zelos or the girl from Mizuho again.

Zelos was inside, packing his things. Lloyd didn't own much, making it very easy to pack. Lloyd sat up. He would head down to Mizuho and wait for Zelos there.

* * *

Like every other, the girl was waiting for Lloyd in the bushes. She gave a weak smile as she walked towards Lloyd. Now eleven, she had grown happier. She had outgrown that dark blue kimono and wore a dark green kimono instead. She actually looked older than she was as she had developed a bit of a figure, which Zelos pointed out whenever he saw her. She had grown tired of him saying that and usually smacked him whenever he mentioned it. She walked up to him, her eyes looking like they would burst into tears. "So, you really have to leave tomorrow?"

"Yes," said Lloyd, sadly. How he wanted to tell her about Yuan, about Sylvarant, about anything that may get her mind off of his leaving. He himself whished he wouldn't move back to Triet; that he could stay on this mountain with Zelos and this girl forever. But he knew that was a weak wish that wouldn't last.

"I see," said the girl, looking down. "Kuchinawa started talking to me once again. I'm not sure that he forgave me, but it seems like these two years, the people of Mizuho are at least accepting me. At least people can look at me without wishing me to die."

"It's a start," said Lloyd gazing down.

"Yeah," said the girl. "Thank you for helping me two years ago. I may not have been able to be like this today."

Suddenly, there was a loud noise. Lloyd and the girl turned around quickly. Lloyd placed his hand on his hilt and his other hand on the girl's shoulder, in case it was an attacker. The noise came from the left. Lloyd slowly gazed over to the left, his hand gripping his sword so hard it felt sore. The stood the Papul knights. What were there doing here? One pointed towards Lloyd. The girl shivered. "Mizuho must remain hidden," she whispered, her brown eyes wide and full of fear.

"Sh," whispered Lloyd, trying to comfort the girl in any way he could. "We need to find out why they're here." No sooner did he say that than the knights started walking towards them. Lloyd stood in front of the girl, ready to protect her if anything violent happened.

"You!" demanded one of the knights. "You were the one who was with that Yuan person."

"And if I was?" said Lloyd coolly.

The knight walked right up to him, his axe raised. "Tell us where Yuan is," he said. "We can't let that half elf around the chosen any more."

_Damn_ thought Lloyd. _They know. Who sold us out?_ "I'm afraid that I won't tell you where Yuan is." Lloyd then gave them a very offensive hand gesture. The knight didn't take kindly to Lloyd showing him his middle finger. Forgetting that killing Lloyd would ruin his chances of finding Yuan, he tried bringing down his axe. Lloyd didn't want to, but he knew that he had no choice. Grabbing the girl, blue wings emerged from his back. They managed to fly away from the attack just in time.

"What the?" said the girl, her eyes even wider.

Lloyd knew that this would take some explaining. He knew that he could no longer let these knights live. Yet, he knew that if he got involved in a sword fight, the Papul knights would recover from the shock of his wings. Tethe'alla couldn't know about the truth of Cruxis. "Holy powers, cast thy purifying light upon these unholy beings," he chanted. Judgment was his only hope. "Judgment!" The girl's eyes grew even wider. Most humans never saw angel magic. Out of nowhere, light fell from the sky, striking the knights. With each hit, blood spurted from many wounds. Their armor was powerful, but not enough to defend against angel powers. The knights lay on the ground, completely dead.

"What just happened?" asked the girl, fear showing in ever corner of her face, every bit of light in her eyes shining with the fear of any normal human being. Lloyd knew what to do. He walked up to her. Gently, he pressed a dagger in her hand.

"On the day you find out," he whispered. "You'll need this." With that, he spread out his wings and flew away; the girl watching as he slowly disappeared into the twilight.

* * *

Lloyd stood outside of Meltokio. With the king and the pope knowing about Yuan's secret, it wasn't safe for either of them to enter. Zelos would have to head back home by himself. The red-haired 13 year old turned around, to see Lloyd one last time. "So, is this goodbye?"

"I don't think so," said Lloyd. "I live with Yuan; I can come back to Tethe'alla."

"So maybe we'll see each other again?" asked Zelos. "Well, then until then, don't get as depressing as Yuan, got it?"

"Yeah," said Lloyd. "Until then." With that, they turned their backs on each other, each heading to a terrible future.

* * *

4 years later…

* * *

Yuan knew that it was time, time to tell Lloyd all about Cruxis. It had truly been 10 years since he had taken in Lloyd in the Iselia forest. Since then, he and Botta had taught him how to fight with swords. Lloyd could handle each of his two swords with equal power. Yuan had even taught him how to throw each sword and use it as a projectile. It was all for when the time came four years from now, when the chosen started her journey. Yuan would send Lloyd to watch her; if she seemed to be completing the journey, then Lloyd would kill her. If a battle was needed, Lloyd would be ready.

The door to Yuan's office creaked open. A thirteen-year-old Lloyd walked in. He wore his long, dark brown hair in a ponytail now. He didn't look sad all the time now but he hardly ever smiled. Giving Yuan a slight bow, he seated himself in a chair, waiting to hear the story about Cruxis.

Yuan clasped his hands together on his desk. Where to start? "I know that already you know about the truth of the regeneration journey. And you have gone through the angel transformation so you know the stages. And you know that the chosen doesn't know about any of this."

Lloyd nodded sadly. He knew that the fate of every chosen was to die. Either the renegades would kill them or they would be sacrificed.

"The chosen is sacrificed to Martel," said Yuan, gazing at his clasped hands. He always found that making eye contact was difficult when he tried it with Lloyd. "Their soul is killed and their body becomes a vessel for Martel. But, no vessel has worked so far. You must have wondered why I gave you the last name of the leader of Cruxis, Yggdrasil. That is because Yggdrasil was Martel's last name before she died. At the moment, she is exactly like those in comas; only those in comas still have bodies. And those in commas actually have a chance pf waking up. And if Martel is revived, the great seed of the Kharlan tree will disappear, the same will happen to Martel if the great tree is revived."

Lloyd nodded. "But why Martel?" he asked, trying not to make eye contact with Yuan either.

"Yggdrasil was very close to Martel," said Yuan. "I was too."

"Did you have a last name then?" asked Lloyd. After he said it, he realized how irrelevant it was.

Yuan was also surprised. But, he decided to explain it either way. "I never had a last name," he explained, looking at the ceiling now. He would look anywhere but Lloyd's eyes. "My mother was an elf. She went to Meltokio and had, well, an accident. She hid me from the world because not only was I a half elf, but I was also a bastard child. But, soon I discovered that I could shoot beams of mana out of my hands. That's sort of like how you can sense when corrupted spirits are around, just like how you have a bit of a sixth sense. It just happens when you have an unusually high amount of mana in your body. It usually happens with elves and half elves, but it can happen to humans as well. When that happened, well, my mother chased me out of Heimdall. Thus, I had no last name."

Yuan looked over at Lloyd. He realized that he was doing the exact same thing; hiding Lloyd from the rest of the world. But that was because if Kratos knew that Lloyd was still alive, he may want him back. Yuan wouldn't let the Lloyd that he had taken ten years to raise in the ways to destroy Kratos be turned into a child of Cruxis.

* * *

_2 years later…_

* * *

Botta gazed over at the 15 year old Lloyd. He truly had improved over the years. But he had worked even harder knowing that he would kill the chosen. Botta saw Yuan and Lloyd together; he could tell that they both almost thought of each other as family. So of coarse Lloyd would do everything he could for the closest thing he had for a father; Yuan. But Botta knew that Yuan would never admit it. Botta knew it was there however.

Yuan probably buried these fatherly feelings because then he would have the same weakness as Kratos. The only thing was that Lloyd hated Kratos enough to massacre a village just to get a chance to kill Kratos. But Lloyd would one day find out the truth. One day he would know that Yuan had lied about how his mother died and why Kratos had killed her. Then, he may be against both Yuan and Kratos.

However, Botta knew that he had no business in this feud. Yuan and Kratos used to be friends but most likely that would change because fatherly love was stronger than friend ship. Kratos would try to kill Yuan because of what he did to Lloyd. But, once again, Botta reminded himself that this was a feud that he had no place in. Brushing these thoughts from his mind, he raised his sword once again to spar with Lloyd.

* * *

_Present day…_

* * *

Lloyd took a glance at the Martel temple for what felt like the millionth time. The Oracle still didn't come. He took a swift glance about. He only saw the other renegades and Botta, it would be okay here. With a swift movement, his light blue, bird-like wings spread out. He began flying back and forth, his wings steadily flapping. However, that soon became repetitive and annoyed several of the renegades. They began grumbling that the flapping noise was giving them headaches. Lloyd immediately stopped, with an annoyed look in his eyes that soon vanished. Lloyd had begun to hide his emotions from all.

Suddenly, a light appeared at the corner of his eye. He turned his head, hoping that it was finally time. Indeed, a light appeared, coming from the temple. His eyes immediately looked to Botta, who nodded. It was time to attack the temple.

* * *

The priests were completely defenseless. Each fell easily with the slash of the sword. Soon the temple grounds were red with blood. Lloyd glanced about him. The only priest left was an old woman. His eyes were completely devoid of light. This hadn't been the first time that he had killed. He joined the other renegades in surrounding the woman. "Where is the chosen?" demanded Botta.

The old woman flinched in fear. She obviously didn't want to die yet she didn't wish to reveal where the chosen was. She slowly started backing towards the temple. Lloyd gripped his bloody swords in case he had to use them. "Run Colette!" shouted the old woman. Lloyd was taken aback. Who was this Colette? The old woman had shouted to someone behind them. Was Colette behind him at this minute? Slowly he turned his head. Behind him stood a blonde haired girl who was with a light blue hair. She clutched two charcrums while the boy clutched a kendama. That girl must be the chosen.

"Prepare to die you chosen," said Lloyd, walking foreword, his swords at hand. Fresh blood still dripped from them.

"Stop!" commanded Botta, pulling Lloyd back. "Let the others take care of her."

"I won't let you Desians hurt her!" shouted the blue haired boy, raising his weapon.

"Hehe," laughed Lloyd, sounding very evil. "What do you think you can do? You're nothing but a child with magic. If you wish to keep your life, hand over the chosen and go home like a good little boy."

"Sh-shut up!" shouted the boy, very annoyed now. "It's not like you're an adult either."

"Lloyd calm down," whispered Botta. "Let the others handle this for now."

"Grr," said Lloyd, finally giving in. "Fine." He walked to the back with Botta. Botta's face calmed. He raised his finger. With that, the renegades ran into battle.

Lloyd would describe it later as like watching an accident waiting to happen. The girl appeared to be stronger than they had expected. She managed to hold off the renegades while the boy fired weak magic at them. Weak magic it may have been, the damage began to pile up. Soon they discovered that they had sorely underestimated this chosen. She emerged from a group of renegades throwing them aside.

"Damn," whispered Lloyd, grabbing his weapons.

"Wait," whispered Botta, pulling him back. "Let's see how they do battling the Vidarr."

Lloyd once again out a growl of frustration yet walked back once again. He did really want to fight, but Botta would only let him when he knew that his opponents were too strong for anyone else.

A large renegade wielding both a sword and a mace marched toward Colette and the boy. Lloyd knew that this man was a powerful foe; he had sparred with him several times. The Vidarr swung his mace about. "Do not get in our way!" he demanded.

The girl and boy got ready for battle. But Lloyd and Botta both knew that there was no way for Colette and this boy to win. The Vidarr was much too powerful. And both of them were right. Soon, the boy and Colette had collapsed to the ground. "They're as good as dead," whispered Lloyd. The Vidarr raised his mace once again to strike the final blow. Colette closed her eyes, preparing for her inevitable death.

However, the hopes of the renegades were soon crushed. A man had leapt in the way, slashing the Vidarr's mace away. "Who the hell is he?" whispered Lloyd. His eyes showed rage at the fact that the man had managed to save the chosen. With his help, Colette and the boy easily defeated the Vidarr. What Lloyd noticed most was the fact that he could use first aid. Did this mean that he was possibly a elf or a half elf?

"Damn," swore Botta. He had to get Lloyd out of here before he found out that that man was Kratos. "Lloyd, round up the troops. We're retreating for now."

"Right!" shouted Lloyd, rushing off to gather the remaining renegades.

_Damn,_ thought Botta. _I used his name. Kratos please don't find out who Lloyd is._ With those thoughts, he ran after Lloyd, retreating for now.

* * *

Me: That's it for now. Sorry about not really getting into the actual story. Next time the journey begins. Will Kratos find out the truth about Lloyd? Like I would tell you! Muhahahahahahahaha! Anyway, right after my evil laugh, please review! 


	4. Restless Soul

Reviews! Reviews! Happy days are here again.

**Brandy Mallory: **Muhahahahahaha! My evil laugh is contagious! Thanks for the compliment!

**SoulTaken: **Sorry about the Gelette. But, it's only one-sided because if Colette's paired with anyone, it'll probably be Zelos. Sorry if anyone out there doesn't like that pairing but I think that it can be cute. Anyway, yeah, I couldn't see Sheena, Raine, or Kratos saving Colette when Remiel wants to kill her. Genis was the only one because Lloyd shows up later in the Tower of Salvation. But, yeah, there is only mild Gelette that will lead nowhere.

**Nakoya:** Thank you so much! All reviews give me a desire to live long enough to complete the story.

**Holly Evergreen: **Yeah, Yuan gave Lloyd "The Talk" at way too early of an age. Though, yeah, he made sure to activate his exsphere early in Lloyd's years and taught him judgment. After all, he wants him to destroy Kratos and maybe even Yggdrasil.

**Berserk1: **I'll continue for everyone's sake! Oh, geez, I sound like Colette!

Anyway, now it's time for chapter 4. Now, the changes may be confusing, but I tried. Ready…? BEGIN!

* * *

Chapter 4: Restless Soul

* * *

Lloyd sat against a wall, cleaning the blood off his sword. Botta had given him a very long lecture about how if you leave blood a sword, it will make the blade useless. When was the chosen getting here? He had seen the blue haired boy run into this house recently; he had looked scared. He didn't know how people lived in Sylvarant without things like rheihards that the renegades used. He glanced over at a few bushes where he had hid his own rheihard.

He smiled evilly. He didn't know why Yuan had him do this; despite being able to defeat the renegades, this chosen didn't seem too strong. She wouldn't be able to go too far. But still, maybe he would be able to fight any of her companions. The auburn haired man that had saved her may be a worthy opponent. Lloyd had always enjoyed fighting.

* * *

The faint snapping of twigs brought him back to reality. That must be the chosen. Quickly, he leapt behind the house. Just as he thought, Colette was coming. Behind her was the auburn haired man from before. Following him was a blue haired woman who may have been the small boy's sister. And behind her was a gray haired man who was pretty overweight. Lloyd could tell that he wasn't a fighter. He listened as the door opened. He craned his hearing to hear what they were talking about.

"Genis, thank Martel!" came a woman's voice. _Genis,_ thought Lloyd. _Probably the young boy. And that voice is probably the woman's._

Then came what must be the old man's voice. "Do you realize how much trouble you've put us in?"

"Mayor, calm down," came the woman's voice. "There's no point in scolding him now. What's done is done. What we need to do now is decide what to do with him."

But the mayor ignored her. "We have a treaty with the Desians!" he shouted. "What will they do to our village now?"

Lloyd clenched his fist. That mayor should leave the kid alone; he didn't like human ranched either. The, Colette's voice came in. "What did you do exactly Genis?"

"They were beating up on that woman," whispered the boy. Lloyd could barely hear him. "I couldn't leave her alone."

"Well you should have!" shouted the mayor. "Did you even think of Iselia? They'll be looking for you! They'll destroy Iselia!"

"It's not like we have much of a choice now," whispered the auburn haired "We can either have a ruined Iselia and a dead Genis or a ruined Iselia and a living Genis."

"Why can't we find some way to save Iselia?" demanded the mayor.

"If you had a trained army," said the woman. She sounded like the logical one. "Then maybe there would be a possibility. But we don't so the Desians will attack no matter what."

"Genis!" shouted the mayor. "You're a disgrace! Don't ever come back to Iselia!" With that, Lloyd heard the door opening. There was a slamming noise and Lloyd turned to see the mayor walk off into the distance.

"What will I do?" asked Genis. Lloyd turned his attention back to hearing what they were saying.

"I see no other way," said Colette. "I think we should take him on the journey."

"Humph," said the auburn haired man. "I see no other choice. Just remember, this isn't a field trip."

* * *

The door opened once more. Lloyd dove down, into a bush as he saw the auburn haired man come his way. _Oh shit,_ thought Lloyd, holding his breath, for fear of this man hearing his breathing. But the man appeared to be more interested in a tombstone nearby.

"Dirk," he said, his eyes gazing down. They appeared to be sad. "Whose grave is this?"

"Aye," said a short being coming near. He may have been a dwarf. "About 14 years ago, I found a lady in the forest. At first I thought she was dead, but she had a few words. After hearing them, well, I buried her here."

"Was there a child with her?" asked the man. He appeared to be extremely desperate. He seemed to be hoping against hope that the answer would be yes.

"I looked all around," said Dirk. There seemed to be a hint of sadness in his voice. "But there was no sign that anyone had been around. She mentioned something about a son but it was that she was sad that he had to die at such an early age. I'm sorry that I couldn't help." With that, the dwarf sadly turned away.

* * *

As soon as the dwarf turned the corner, the man collapsed, covering his eyes. "So it's true," he whispered. "That boy today; he looked so much like you. He even had the same name of our boy. But the renegades were nowhere near where we were. He truly is dead." He collapsed on the grave. "It would have been better if he had lived and become a renegade than if he had died."

The man sat there for several hours, his hands covering his face as tears ran down his cheeks. Lloyd felt a pang of sorrow for the man that soon vanished. This man was his enemy and he would feel no sorrow for him. He didn't even understand why he was sad; it's not like it was his kid who had died.

* * *

Lloyd awoke with a start. He hadn't realized that he had fallen asleep. Shaking himself, he arose. The moon was set in the center of the sky, signaling that it was midnight. Reaching out to the house, he pulled himself up. The auburn had left. Lloyd stumbled out of the bushes. No longer would he allow himself to fall asleep.

He didn't notice it at first, but he had stepped near the grave. A pang of realization hit him when he felt pressure on his brain, pressure he only felt when he was near spirits. He turned toward the grave. It felt as if the woman's spirit was actually trying to reach out and touch his mind. Who had this woman been?

* * *

"_Lloyd," _came Yuan's voice out of the machine in Lloyd's ear. Lloyd shook his head to rid it of the spirit feeling. As he walked over to his rheihard, Yuan's voice came out again. _"The chosen starts her journey tomorrow. Follow her until I order you to attack. Over!" _

"Roger!" said Lloyd into the mouthpiece. "I'll follow her on my rheihard! Over!"

"_Good,"_ came Yuan's voice. _"Over!"_

* * *

Me: I want to write more; I really do. But, it just seems right ending it there with Yuan saying _"Over!"_ And we got four reviews while I was writing.

**Master Summoner Sheena: **Well, I don't want to give anything away, but Sheena seems to recognize Lloyd a little. But sorry, that's all I'm saying.

**Meowzy-chan: **Botta didn't ruin everything, but now Kratos has his suspicions….

**Ruler of the Dimensions: **Thanks! I **_will_** keep this up!

**Lloyd-forever: **Thank you. Yeah, this story reveals Lloyd and Yuan's most evil sides but mostly Lloyd's. And I just updated, yayness!


	5. Drinking Aionis

Ah, reviews keep the Kratos from killing the Zelos.

**Lloyd-forever: **Yay I'm a saint! Happy butterflies are here again! Yeah, there is a huge brawl coming up. But I won't give too much away…

**J.G. The Gamer: **I didn't do as well in the last chapter than I have before. Well, I kind of was freaking out because my brother wanted to use the computer, so I hurried. So, yeah, I'll try to do better now.

**Berserk1: **Yeah, the new Lloyd really likes fighting because he has a lot of sadness and anger inside so fighting helps him clear his mind. And Kratos shows emotion when he thinks he's alone.

**Master Summoner Sheena:** Usually I try to update often but I won't mention names cough school cough sometimes gets in the way. Your sister committed one of the most horrendous crimes that you can commit in video games; give away the ending. I vowed to never go onto any website mentioning anything that was ahead in the game after I discovered Regal's secret.

**Brandy Mallory: **Yay! We both like to laugh evilly. Thank you.

**Eternum123: **You reviewed a lot, so I'll answer all here. Originally I was going to do a story with Kratos raising Lloyd in Cruxis, but I realized that everyone was doing that. So I thought, "What else is there?" And they were the renegades. Lloyd fights Colette because Yuan orders him to assassinate the chosen. Sorry, I can't say whether Sheena will remember Lloyd later. It's okay if you can't think of anything; every review is as precious as the rest. Yeah, Yuan made sure Lloyd wasn't stupid. Like I keep on saying, he wasn't the best of parents. Thank you again and keep reviewing.

**Heisui: **Welcome back from your trip. Thanks for the review.

**Meowzy-chan: **While I was writing that scene, I was like "Oh, poor Kratos! Why must I do this to him?" Thanks for the review.

Now, another memory of Lloyd and Yuan…

A five-year-old Lloyd sits at the table, looking at his dinner. He says, "I don't want to eat these peas!"

Yuan gets annoyed and shouts "Eat your peas you little son of a bitch!" He then runs off to read _Parenting for dummies._

Yuan would have died without _Parenting for dummies. Son of a bitch idea came from my brother._Ready…? BEGIN!

* * *

Chapter 5: Drinking Aionis

* * *

_Lloyd gazed around him. A stone with runes was in front of him. Trees with strange leaves surrounded him. He shook himself. He had to get to that stone._

_As he walked forward, twigs, leaves, and grass crunched under his boots. The stone glowed a light blue color. Before he could reach it however, a man with a dark face stood in his path. A shorter figure wearing a cloak stood behind him._

_Who were these fools? They would learn what would happen if they stood in his way. He unsheathed his swords. In one swipe he knocked off the head of the man. He then stabbed the shorter figure._

_Before he touched the rune stone, he turned. The sight before him made him collapse against the stone. The face of the man was mutilated, just as Yuan had described it. But it was the shorter figure that made him lean over and clutch his face. Their hood had been pulled back, revealing the face of the girl from Mizuho._

_Lloyd held her lifeless body against his face. Her blood dripped down his face. What was the price for him to free himself from the pain of this rage?_

"_**Lloyd, LLOYD!"**_

* * *

****

Lloyd jerked awake. Yuan's voice had awakened him from that terrible nightmare. Rubbing his eyes, he spoke into the mouthpiece. "Yuan, I'm here, over!"

"_Lloyd,"_ came Yuan's voice. It sounded slightly excited. _"Come to the Triet base now. **It's** here! Over!"_

Lloyd flinched. He knew exactly what **it** was. "I'll get there soon. Over."

As Lloyd packed, he reminded himself that he had been prepared for this his entire life. Yuan had told him it was for his own good; that it would help him defeat Kratos. Lloyd was willing to do anything to get his revenge. Yet, he knew that after he drank that, he would officially be no longer human. He would gain abilities that normal humans could never dream of using. But, something didn't feel right at all. He felt as if he was slowly changing from Lloyd Yggdrasil into a weapon whose only goal was to kill Kratos. _What is the price of revenge?_ He wondered as he loaded up his rheihard. _What will I have to sacrifice? Who will suffer for it? How will the world be affected?_

He thought more about his dream as he lifted off from the ground. The mutilated face must have represented his father. Did that mean his father was still alive? Did the fact that he and the young girl were dead at the end represent anything either? Did that mean that he would have to sacrifice them for his revenge? Lloyd looked down at the earth below. Why did his life have to be like this? But, he shook it all off. It was just a dream; most likely it didn't mean anything at all. In the next few moments, the nightmare was brushed to the back of his mind.

* * *

Lloyd looked at the doors to the base for a long time. It felt like hours but it must have only been a few minutes at most. Lloyd was thinking about his decisions. He could just turn around here. He could throw away Yuan's communicator and attempt to live a semi normal life. But he soon forgot that idea. He was an angel after all; there was no way for him to live an even semi normal life.

He could escape to Tethe'alla. But that wouldn't last long; the renegades were also in Tethe'alla. He would soon be found. He could try to hide with the elves but why would they help him? He was a human and an angel; they wanted nothing to do with either. What about Exire? But who would the half elves choose, a human with angel powers who claimed that he wanted to escape the renegades or half elven renegades who knew the pain of being a half elf? Obviously they would believe the renegades.

Lloyd then thought about Yuan. He was the man who had protected him from Kratos, the man who had raised him, the man who had trained him in the way of the swords, and the man he almost dared to think of as a father. He knew he could never leave Yuan. Even if his mind told him not to, he would always follow Yuan, obeying him no matter what. With that, he closed his eyes and opened the door to the renegade base, knowing that he was about to leave his humanity behind.

* * *

"Ah, excellent Lloyd, you're here," said Yuan, facing him from his office chair. Lloyd had been here many times, in Yuan's office. Before he had learned about Kratos, Cruxis and many other things about the world that normal people didn't know about. Now, it was time. The time he knew would come someday. The time to drink the Aionis and become a being much more than human had finally come.

A large goblet sat on Yuan's desk. A murky solution sat in the bowl. It was mostly purple but it also had a brownish color. When Lloyd neared it, a foul smell reached him. There was only one description for it; it smelled like death, like dried blood.

"I know it doesn't look good at all," said Yuan, picking up the goblet, its contents slowly oozing back and forth. Lloyd felt even more disgusted. Yuan went on. "But after you drink it, you'll gain powers that most humans will never have in their lifetime. It may taste disgusting, but continue drinking until the glass is completely empty." With that, he passed the goblet to Lloyd.

Lloyd hesitantly accepted the goblet. He knew that it was not quite too late. He could run away and try life another way. But, he knew that he would have nowhere to escape and that he would only be delaying the inevitable. He had known for his entire life that this day would come and it was now. He closed his eyes and thought about being human before he tilted the goblet towards his mouth and let the Aionis slip into his mouth.

The Aionis was most certainly the worst thing he had ever tasted. It had the sour, bitter, and way too salty at the same time. He wanted to spit it out, but remembered that with this, he would be able to defeat Kratos. By trying to swallow it, he felt it would have been easier to force a knife down his throat. When it finally went down, he felt a sense of relief of being rid of the taste that soon vanished because he knew that there was more to drink. Not knowing how long he could keep it down, he took another sip.

He thought that the second sip would have been easier to handle, but if anything it was even harder. He knew that there was only one way to feel better and that was to finish this. Once again, the foul tasting liquid went down his esophagus. He continued like this, sip after sip, each one worse than the last. As the last drop went down his throat, he felt more relieved than he had in that entire day.

Lloyd chocked after that last drop was through his throat. He struggled to breath as he clutched at his throat. Yuan watched, knowing that there was nothing that he could do for the boy suffering so much in front of his eyes.

* * *

Lloyd's rheihard had never been a huge sign of salvation until now. It meant that he could leave the renegade base and return to watching the chosen. The taste had left his mouth but Lloyd could feel the mana blueprint of his body slowly changing. It felt like different cells of his body were breaking off and going to different parts of his body. He also sensed things more; he could feel Sylvarant's mana fly against his body. He felt it slowly ebbing away over to Tethe'alla. He knew that if something didn't happen soon, Sylvarant would be empty of mana.

* * *

The next morning, Lloyd was already up in the sky, waiting for Colette. Maybe he had gotten up too early. Colette seemed to be slow getting on this regeneration journey. If this continued she would never start. She did seem a little klutzy.

He noticed a small group of people gathering at the entrance. He dove as close as he dared. Indeed, there was Colette's blonde hair. She had the auburn haired man, the blue haired woman, and Genis with her. _Finally,_ thought Lloyd. _I thought she would never start._

The rest of the day the chosen's group pressed onto Triet, all the time being pursued by Lloyd.

* * *

Lloyd leaned against his rheihard. He knew that they couldn't go very far in one day because they, unlike him couldn't fly. Still, he quickly grew bored just following them all day. He hoped that soon Yuan would tell him to attack Colette. He didn't understand why they weren't just attacking Colette; why did Yuan want him to wait so long?

To pass time, Lloyd opened his pack up. He no longer carried around apple gels; he could use first aid. He unfurled a map of Sylvarant. As he gazed at it, his mind went back to the nightmare he had last night.

Did it signal that if he continued blindly to lust for revenge that he would sacrifice more than he could handle? Ever since he had heard the story of Kratos, not one day went by without him wanting Kratos dead. It had gone on so long that it was an obsession.

What would happen after he got his revenge? Maybe he could live a normal life? No, he knew that there was no normal life for angels. Maybe he would defeat Cruxis? He knew that his parents had hated Cruxis, maybe they would want him to.

Killing Kratos, destroying Cruxis, it seemed that his entire life was about revenge. He wondered vaguely what would have happened if he lived a normal life. The one thing that he knew was that he would never be normal.

But now he had to focus on killing Colette. The most important thing was to save this world. Then he could kill Kratos. He lay on his side and fell asleep instantly.

* * *

Me: Before anyone asks, I won't tell you if anyone dies. I know this, even though I said this at least one person will ask me if anyone dies. I'm sorry, but I can't tell you. You'll just have to wait and find out. Muhahahahahahahahahaha! Please review! Remember, each time you refuse to review, Kratos kills a Zelos. Please think of the Zelos! 


	6. A Second Assassin

13 reviews? This is a record for me.

**Eternum123: **It's okay if you wanted Zelos to die. But for now he lives…

**Lloyd-forever: **Just remember, if it weren't for Zelos, Lloyd would be really emo. But it's okay if you hate him.

**Holly Evergreen: **It's okay if you don't review every chapter; just review enough to make sure there isn't some huge Zelos massacre.

**Dog of the Dead: Yes**! I'll always update so long as there are people to read it.

**Master Summoner Sheena: **Lloyd won't abandon the renegades right away; he's still loyal. He just has his doubts about what is right. And you'll have to wait to see their reactions…

**Nakoya: **Thank you so much and you're welcome as well. And everyone is as much in character as they can be (like I said before, without Lloyd, Genis became a little on the sad side. Lloyd really affected the people of Iselia a lot). Thank you again.

**Brandy Mallory: **Man, all I can say is that on some of my other stories there are a lot of Zelos massacres. Thank you for the review!

**J.G. The Gamer: **Yeah, without Sheena, Lloyd might as well be in hell. I really wish I could say something to lighten the tension but whenever I think about doing that, I remember reading about Regal's past ahead of time and I stop. Now, if Lloyd finds out who Kratos is, Kratos will have to fear for his life…

**Ruler of the Dimensions: **Thank you for the review. Now in this chapter a major event occurs but I'm afraid there's nothing that I can say…

**Lady Nephenee Ranulf:**** Ah**, yes, grammar is my nemesis. I'll try to do better. And sorry about claiming that Raine had blue hair, it definitely is light bluish silver (more silver though). Thank you for pointing these out. And when it came to Aoinis, I wanted for it to be as disgusting as it could. And I was going to make it a pill or something that Lloyd could shoot through a needle, but when I did that, I realized that it might be too easy. So I chose the most disgusting thing I could think of: medicine that you drink. _Shivers._

**Meowzy-chan: **That was exactly what I was thinking, poor Lloyd. I really hate drinking medicine, especially when the flavor taste disgusting… _shivers._

**Crystal Adept: **Nooo! Kratos! I'll save you! Achem, thank you for reviewing it made me happy.

**Freakyanimegal456: **It's a fact; Kratos does kill a Zelos. Thank you for reviewing. I don't think I'll kill of Kratos but he will get wounded…

Now, in this chapter, I think I hurried too much. But still, we all know the story of Symphonia and Lloyd has almost no role now. All he does is watch them. So, I'll explain it in a nutshell. And then, I think I'll be forced to hurry again, but Lloyd does nothing so it shouldn't matter much. And Ready…? BEGIN!

* * *

Chapter 6: A Second Assassin

* * *

Leaning forward, Lloyd could vaguely see the chosen's group coming closer. He placed his hands on the hilts of his swords despite the fact that they must still be miles away, still in the desert. But they were headed to Izoold; they had to come through the Ossa Trail. Lloyd knew that this was a perfect trap, he would wait for them to come closer and would then attack.

Yet the logical side of him remembered that now the chosen had wings, which might be a possibility that she was stronger. Also that auburn haired man was strong as well. Lloyd reminded himself to not to underestimate them as much as he had before. If he did that, then he may die and maybe Kratos would go free.

He knew that he had to complete this. After all, the chosen had already unlocked a seal; Yuan no longer saw her as something simple. Now she was an enemy and one to fear for that matter. If she actually managed to regenerate the world, she would be used for Martel's vessel. And if it worked, then the great seed would die. And they couldn't risk that. Especially now when Sylvarant was dying, without mana, it would be nothing. And then, Tethe'alla would soon follow.

He heard a crunching noise. He jumped back to reality. The chosen had to be here now. He unsheathed his swords. As quick as he could, he ran over to the edge. Indeed, there stood the chosen and her group. Lloyd moved back to jump.

"Stop!" came a woman's voice. Lloyd froze abruptly. Was someone here? Slowly, he turned around. No one was there. So where could the voice had come from? It didn't make sense. What brought him back to reality was the sound of crunching gravel. He turned back towards the chosen. He shouldn't have become distracted. But running over to the edge he saw who had shouted. A woman with slightly messy ivory hair tied up in a ponytail was facing the chosen. She wore a lavender, short kimono and a pink obi. She also wore a light long sleeved black shirt. Also she had tight black pants.

But what drew him in was what she had tied in with her obi. It appeared to be a metal dagger with elven runes on. That was his old dagger. Yuan had given him that dagger. It could only be used a few times and then would shatter. But with one swipe it could kill any mortal being. He had given that girl that dagger 8 years ago. It was incase she was attacked. Did that possibly mean that this was that girl from Mizuho? He clothes resembled their style. He quickly ran away from the edge; she couldn't find out he was here.

When he was positive that she couldn't see him, he finally stopped. He slumped against a tree, tired from running. His breathing came out in short gasps and he let himself fall to the ground. He had to avoid her. He had to. This business with the renegades was too dangerous. She had never known why he and Zelos could come every day to visit her in Mizuho.

And what was she doing in Sylvarant? The only way between the worlds was the renegade bases. Did that mean that she was involved with the renegades? A mild hope light him up for a moment. Maybe then he could actually talk to her, to tell her about his problems, about everything. Maybe they could be friends again. But that small sliver of hope soon died. Even if she knew about the renegades, probably Yuan wouldn't have told her about the renegade secrets. She might hardly know anything at all. Lloyd felt his heart drop, knowing that his only hope of having a friend had just died.

He had to keep her out of his life. This business with the chosen and cruxis was too dangerous. He would only drag her into more danger and that would be selfish of him. He felt a pang in his stomach. He knew that it would be hell watching her and not being able to do anything at all. Even if she was dying, he was powerless.

Besides, she would make him weak. Of coarse it wouldn't be intentional, but it would happen any way. She could be used as a weapon against him. He remembered one of Yuan's lessons: avoid unnecessary weaknesses. Unfortunately, this girl was an unnecessary weakness. And there was nothing he could do about it.

What if she saw him? What if she recognized him? Lloyd flinched at that thought. He would be powerless then, he didn't know what he would do then. All he could possibly do was to lie to her. He would tell her that he'd never been to Tethe'alla. He clutched at his arm, tears slowly flowing down his face. He had hoped that possibly he would have his friend back, but now he knew that friends were a luxury that he could never afford. Never.

* * *

Now, Lloyd sat in a tree. After he had failed the last assassination attempt, he was determined to do this one right. He had followed the chosen to Izoold and to Palmacoasta. Now, he sat outside the house of Salvation, in this tree. The chosen would be heading here soon. This time, she was dead for sure.

Yuan had reminded him not to use his wings or any angel powers. If he left one alive, he could damage the entire system of life in Sylvarant. It would be better to say that the chosen had died at the hands of a Desian. Then maybe they would find a way to germinate the great seed. People would soon forget that the chosen had died. _After all, _thought Lloyd. _She's going to die no matter what the outcome is. I'm just making it happen earlier than it was supposed to._

Yet, still he felt a small pang of guilt. After all, all of Sylvarant was hoping, praying that the chosen would succeed. He would squash all hope for that. But, he shook off that feeling. He reminded himself that this was for the best. With that, he unsheathed his sword and jumped down.

* * *

Colette's POV…

I'm just walking out. I'm not too far from camp. Genis is back there cooking dinner. Raine sits by reading her book. Kratos sits against Noishe, looking at the ground. I'm so happy to have such nice people traveling with me.

I had no idea what was about to happen. I was just walking like I always do to pass the time. I suspected nothing. And then, the boy jumped in front of me….

* * *

Normal POV…

Lloyd landed in front of Colette, almost gracefully. He knew that he must look frightening with his swords unsheathed like this and that was what he was hoping for. As he stood up, Colette came back to reality. "Wh-what are you d-doing here?" managed to say in barley more than a whisper.

Lloyd didn't answer. He lifted both his swords. Pushing a lock of long brown hair out of his eyes, he swung at Colette. She started to move back but Lloyd knew that she couldn't escape. He smiled as his sword began to fall.

However, he soon was sorely disappointed. The auburn haired man was quicker than he had thought. He had managed to pull out his own sword. With a cool look on his face, he pushed his sword in front of Lloyd's giving Colette time to escape. "Damn," whispered Lloyd. He seriously thought that the chosen was as good as dead.

What had been a calm campsite a few minutes before was in uproar now. The silver haired maiden had thrown her book to the ground and quickly grabbed her staff. The young boy named Genis had abandoned the food and grabbed his kendama. Lloyd prepared himself for a long and difficult battle.

"Hell pyre!" he shouted, sending balls of fire against the auburn haired man. The man retreated, avoiding his attack. Lloyd knew to attack the spell casters first. Bending his back slightly, he dashed at the woman and the boy.

"Ray thrust!" shouted Colette, throwing her weapons at Lloyd. Right after he heard her attack, he quickly leapt into the air. The charcrums flew right under him. Yet, he was unprepared for Genis' fireballs. They hit him in the center of his back. He flinched at the burning, yet through his teary eyes, he saw that now the boy was undefended. Using this opportunity, he charged forward towards the unsuspecting boy.

"Lightning blade!" he shouted. The boy looked at him surprised and then had a look of utter pain as Lloyd's sword was thrust into him. And he was put through even more hell as lightning struck him. Genis collapsed on the ground. With that, Lloyd turned his head towards the woman.

Yet his hopes of attacking their only healer were shattered when the auburn haired man ran up to him and attempted to stab him. Lloyd reacted quickly, defending himself against the man's attack. What he didn't count on was the woman knowing an attack. "Photon!" shouted the woman, raising her staff. A rune appeared on Lloyd. He was held in place allowing the man to stab him several times. After a few stabs, the rune exploded and Lloyd was thrust back, blood flowing down his head.

Knowing that if he continued with these wounds that there was no way for him to win, he began chanting. "First aid!" he shouted. He felt some of his wounds close up and charged into battle once again.

"Double Demon fang!" he shouted, slashing his swords twice, creating demon fangs aimed at Colette. After all, she was the one he was supposed to kill. She dodged the first, but was hit by the second, forcing her to draw back, clutching at her wound. But Lloyd wouldn't let her escape. Dashing after her, he prepared another attack. "Lightning blade!" Colette reacted in similar ways to Genis, first confusion, then pain, then a face that usually was seen in hell. Lloyd stood back, gazing at what he had done but soon was brought back to reality blocking another stab from the auburn haired man.

"Stop this," demanded the auburn haired man. "I just want to talk."

"And what would you tell me?" demanded Lloyd. His voice sounded demonic. "Are you going to tell me that Martel will save me and all that crap? Don't waste your breath; Martel wouldn't save me even if she existed. She wouldn't even care about me." With a huge thrust, the man flew back. Lloyd raised his swords, ready to kill the man. But he wasn't watching his back.

"Angel feathers!" shouted Colette. He charcrums flew, hitting Lloyd in the back. He flinched, cursing himself for being so stupid and not defending himself.

"Damn," he whispered, lifting his swords. "I'll have to finish you first." Full of rage, he charged towards Colette. He didn't realize it, but his eyes had turned yellow, like a demon. "Hurricane thrust!" He thrust his sword deep into Colette. She let out a scream as she fell to the ground. Lloyd stared. Did he kill her? A swoop of disappointment filled his mind as he saw her slowly move. "Okay, I guess I'll have to finish you then." He raised his sword and swung again.

"No!" shouted a voice. Lloyd still continued. Suddenly, the boy Genis was in front of him, taking the blow for Colette. His arms were bloody, but he managed to shout "Run Colette! Sylvarant's nothing without you!" He pulled out his kendama, preparing to fight.

"You plan to fight me with that?" taunted Lloyd. "You should have stayed home."

"Shut up!" shouted Genis. "I won't let Colette die!" With so much determination that it was sad, he swung the kendama. Lloyd caught the small wooden ball and pulled it upwards. Soon, Genis was dangling in the air, unable to fight.

"Time to finish this!" shouted Lloyd. He lifted one of his swords, aiming to kill Genis.

"You bastard!" came the woman's voice. With all her might, she swung her staff down on Lloyd's head. He flinched, closing his eyes through all the pain. Dropping Genis, he held his hand to his head. The auburn haired man saw his chance. Ignoring the wound that Lloyd gave him, he charged, sword at hand.

Lloyd ignored his own pain, lifting both of his swords. With all his might, he swung at the man, determined to defend himself. He closed his eyes, believing that he was going to die. Yet instead he heard a groan from the man instead. He opened his eyes. The man sat in front of him, clutching his right eye. Blood flew from it, spurting everywhere. When he removed his bloody hand, Lloyd stood back. Across his right eye was a wound that would turn into a scar. It was a strait line, beginning at his forehead and continuing past his eye and down to his cheek. Lloyd, taking his opportunity, stabbed the man through the arm. "I'll be back," he whispered. "Remember me with your scar." With that, Lloyd sprinted away from the campsite into the deep darkness.

* * *

Kratos' POV…

I know that this wound will leave a scar. I know that it won't be fatal and that I won't even go blind. I should consider myself lucky that I only escape with this scar. Yet Lloyd hurt me in a mental way. If I am right, that's Anna's exsphere. But why would Lloyd be with the renegades? The blood covering my hand doesn't cause my pain, nor does my wound. Not even the fact that I'm fighting against Lloyd hurts as much. What truly hurts is Lloyd's rejection.

I thought that he was dead. I truly thought that I would never see him again. Never. And I continued thinking that after seeing Anna's grave. But if he has her exsphere, it must be true. Please, if there is a goddess up there, please, don't have me die at the hands of my son. And please, please, don't have Lloyd die at the hands of me either.

* * *

Colette's POV…

Kratos looks hurt. I don't blame him, that wound is huge. His hand is all bloody and more blood continues to drip. Raine kneels next to him. She tries to calm him, saying that all that will be left over is the scar. She tells him that it may not even show up too much. But I don't think that Kratos' problem is the wound. It seems that his problem is some emotion. He never talks; he must hold back all emotion. Usually you can't tell how Kratos feels. But I can see it in his eyes, in his face. Somehow, that boy must have hurt him more than simply scaring his face.

* * *

Genis' POV…

I thought I was going to die. I truly thought that. When that boy aimed his sword at me, I knew that the end was near. But Raine helped. I really love my sister like she was my mother.

But one of the things that scared me most was his eyes. When he first appeared, they were a normal hazel. But when he was fighting, they turned yellow, just like an animal's. What could hurt him so much to have that much hate stored up?

Somehow, I knew that I would be willing to die for Colette. I hate how I joined this journey. I joined this journey because of I didn't, I was dead. I wish I had joined because I am useful. But instead I joined as a burden. Ino longer want to be a burden.

* * *

Raine's POV…

That boy must have so much hate stored inside of him. How he fought was completely ruthless. As if fighting was his way of getting back at the world. I remember reading a psychology book. It said that if you can't release emotions by talking to another human, then you'll express them in other ways. Such as, if you have happy emotions and can't tell any one about them, you then may donate money to the poor. If you have sad emotions, you act as if everything in this world is only temporary. And if you have anger emotions, you'll release them on others. That boy appeared to be a combination of sad and anger emotions. And he must have no one to talk about these emotions to.

But, I too released anger emotions. I released them at that boy when he was going to kill Genis. I wasn't as calm and rational as I usually am. But I couldn't control them; after all, he was going to kill Genis. Genis is all I have left in this world. I would do anything for him. Unfortunately, releasing those emotions on that boy may have made his rage grow. If he continues bottling up emotions inside of him, he won't be able to control himself. He may cause even more damage.

But what also interests me is the fact that he's a human with the Desians. Did a human once do something so horrible to him that he now hates all humans? And why can he use magic? Maybe one day, if the boy is calm enough, someone will be able to speak to him and he'll forget his rage.

* * *

Lloyd glanced about. When he saw that no one was around, he released his bird-like wings and flew over to a cliff. There, he leaned against his rheihard. Lazily, he gazed back at where the chosen had been camping. He didn't notice, but his eyes had gone back to their normal hazel color.

Why did he hate them so much? It wasn't like they had actually done anything to him. In fact, this chosen seemed almost like a nice person. But, he didn't know why and didn't know if he would ever know why, but just looking at the group filled him with so much rage that sometimes he scared himself.

He had always had rage. Ever since he found out about Kratos, everything was the same. He would always head out and burn off some of the rage by training with his sword. Yet, the rage never completely left and each time, the leftovers continued to build up until there was way too much to handle. He knew someday, all this rage would break all barriers and would hurt everyone who was unlucky enough to be nearby. And Lloyd knew that there was nothing he could do when that happened.

* * *

Yuan: Hey, where's Me?

Sheena: Hmm, you're right. Usually she's here.

Me: _Enters panting._ I'm sorry. Just setting up the barricades.

Kratos: Barricades?

Me: Yeah, I think there'll be a **lot **of fan girls coming here with pitch forks and torches.

Kratos: Um, why?

Me: Well, because I had Lloyd scar your face. Oh Anna! _Brings Anna back from the dead._

Anna: Why am I here?

Me: Tell them Kratos' scar is hot.

Anna: Um, okay, Kratos' scar is hot.

Me: And there you have it. If Anna says Kratos' new scar is hot, then it is. So, I'm begging you; do NOT send me a review saying, "How could you scar Krattie chan's face?" What I really want is reviews on the fight scene. Because fight scenes are an even bigger enemy than grammar to me. So, yeah, please tell me how to make my fight scenes better. Please! Yes, and please review and thanks.


	7. You're Better Off Alone

Ah, drinking a nice can of self esteem tastes so good.

**Eternum123: **Yeah, that's one of the main reasons that fiction is rated T: VIOLENCE! MUHAHAHAHAHAHA! Sorry, I get like that. Yeah, Violence.

**Bastion the legend: **Yes, Lloyd was way overpowered. But I wanted him to be able to defeat all but Kratos so he had to be way stronger than usual. Sorry about that.

**Ekhary: **No worries; I could understand your review great. I really feel great when people enjoy my writing as much as you do so thank you. And I'm glad about the fight scenes, usually mine don't turn out so good. Thank you so much and your English is fine you lucky bilingual person!

**Dog of the Dead: **Gyah! I'm sorry about Krattie-chan! Oh, wait, you were kidding? Achem, thank you for the review. Thank you for telling me about the fight scene.

**Meowzy-chan: **Whew, I thought a lot of people would be angry about Kratos' face, but it turns out that you accepted the fact. I truly have to thank all for that.

**Crystal Adept: **Cool, you like the scar idea. Thank you and don't worry, I'll restrain Lloyd.

**Ruler of the Dimensions: **Hehe that was funny. But angry fan girls are no joke! I'll keep writing like this.

**Royal Fanatic: **Hello new reviewer! Wahoo! More people like the scar idea! Thank you!

**Lloyd-forever: **Yeah, Lloyd was so dense. Unfortunately, if he found out who Kratos was, he wouldn't give him a chance to explain himself; he would try to kill him. And I hate putting Kratos through this.

**Lady Nephenee Ranulf: **Hm, you're right, Kratos does look more like a real mercenary now. No one killed me for marring his face, thank goodness. Gyah! I GOT SHEENA'S HAIR WRONG! I AM ETERNALLY SORRY! Sorry about that, I can't believe I made that mistake. Sorry.

**Brandy Mallory: **You're right, like Anna said; Kratos is hot with a scar. And here I thought that I would get mobbed. I'll leave you to your daydreams…

And yet again the plot is fairly rushed. But like I said before, all Lloyd does is watch them, so I really don't see the whole point of making a novelization of all these events. So, now it comes time for the ranch events (Kvar's not Magnius'). And all that happened will be summed up in a nutshell. Sorry if it's rushed, but I can't do everything in detail, life's too short. And Ready…? BEGIN!

* * *

Chapter 7: You're Better Off Alone

* * *

How long was the chosen's group going to stay in that temple? They must be on the third one now. After all, Lloyd had seen them defeat the water temple. Yuan still hadn't ordered him to attack the chosen, which made him wonder if he had perhaps lost his touch for death. Lloyd amused himself by flying around nearby the temple. Rheihards truly were a blessing.

A sharp, beeping noise dragged him out of his deep thoughts. That noise meant one thing; Yuan was calling him once again. "_Lloyd?"_

"Yes Yuan?"

_"This is important! Kvar may be preparing to attack us! You have to take a detour and attack the Asgard ranch now!"_

"Roger!" said Lloyd fairly loudly due to excitement. Finally! A fight that he could release all this energy on, this was exactly what he hoped for. Turning abruptly, he sped his rheihard north, towards the Asgard ranch.

He didn't think once along the way about the chosen back at the temple. He only thought about defeating Desians. The Asgard ranch belonged to Kvar, maybe he could end up fighting him. He smiled at the thought of having a battle with a grand cardinal. The chosen had already defeated Magnius but there was still Kvar, Rodyle, Forcystis, and Pronyma.

Lloyd closed his eyes. What was Kvar doing? He of coarse knew about the renegades, but what could he possibly do to harm the majority of the renegades? Maybe he couldn't but Yuan didn't want to take risks. Either way, he didn't care; he just wanted to fight. But soon he forgot about fighting when he picked up the smell of smoke. This jerked his eyes open, looking down. Indeed, smoke was rising from the town Luin.

Lloyd stopped in midair. What had happened to Luin? Were the Desians attacking it? But why would they do that? And were there any left? Desians meant battles and he didn't want to miss out if there were battles. Wondering why the Desians would attack, he dove down into the gray flames.

* * *

It soon became obvious that the Desians had attacked Luin. It wasn't the smoke or the ruined buildings that truly gave it away, but the smell. Even Lloyd who was used to the smell of blood and death felt sick. He was reminded of the Aionis smell. Why had the Desians attacked a peaceful city like Luin?

Lloyd shook of these feelings of sickness. What he had to look for were survivors or at least people who had not been carried off to the ranch. But somehow he doubted that. After all, these were Desians. It wasn't like they valued life, at least not human life in the least. But it gave him something to do in the least.

His doubt of survivors grew as he walked through the city. The roads were completely made of ruble and even cement house were crumbling. Tired of all the death, he leaned against wooden door for a second. But the next second, he withdrew his hand. The door was collapsing under his hand. Realizing that he shouldn't stay here much longer, he moved onwards.

As he neared the ruined fountain, he heard a steady breathing noise. Did this mean that it was a survivor? Or was it a wounded Desian? A wounded Desian wouldn't be much of a fight, so hopefully it was a survivor. As he turned the corner, he reached at his swords, in case it was a wounded Desian. But instead of seeing a Desian, he saw the assassin from before.

She appeared to be bleeding. At the foot of the fountain, she was kneeling, clutching at her stomach. Lloyd stood still. Should he leave her alone? If he walked closer, she may recognize him. It may be better to just avoid her. But that wound was so deep and bloody, what would happen to her if he left her? Would she die? Or would she pass out?

What would he do if she recognized him? After all, he had decided that his life was too dangerous for her. But he couldn't leave her here to die. Lloyd shook himself. He couldn't let her die. Opening his eyes, he walked towards the ruined fountain.

* * *

Sheena's POV…

It's completely inevitable. This wound is too deep, I'm going to die, I know it. What will happen to Tethe'alla? What will happen to Mizuho? What will Kuchinawa do? What about that idiot chosen? What about Corrine? I can't believe how I'm such a failure. First Volt, now this, I might as well die. I close my eyes and wait for death.

* * *

Normal POV…

Lloyd kneeled down next to the raven-haired girl. He could sense that she was too depressed at the moment to speak. Placing his hand above her hand, he chanted quietly "First aid." The white light expanded from his fingertips. The girl immediately noticed that her wounds were healing. Her head moved up from her hands. Their eyes met for a moment. Both of them grew wide with surprise for a moment. Then, the girl leapt back.

"W-wait, do I know you?" she asked, surprise filled every corner of her voice. Lloyd was vaguely reminded of when they first met.

"Well, that depends," he said. He didn't want to lie to her right away. "What is your name?"

"Sh-Sheena!" she answered immediately. Lloyd realized that they had never introduced each other by their names. Also he thought, barley consciously that the name Sheena really fit her. "Sheena Fujibayashi!"

_Oh great, _thought Lloyd. _I have to lie to her now._ Partly honest, he said, "Sorry, none of my friends said that their name was Sheena."

"Oh, I see," she said, her brown eyes gazing down, almost tearing up. Lloyd immediately felt guiltier than he had ever in his life. He just wanted to say anything; that he had a friend that looked like her, that he did have a friend from Mizuho, but he reminded himself that this was for the best. Sheena would be better off without him. He just had to make sure that she never knew anything more than this.

"What happened here?" asked Lloyd. Maybe she wouldn't feel so bad now.

"The Desians attacked!" she said, fairly loudly. She appeared to try to not be sad anymore as her eyes attempted to disguise her look of sadness. "You know the human ranch nearby here? Well, Luin was some folks from there. And when they didn't say where they were, not only did everyone get carried off to the ranch, but the city was destroyed as well, so that even if they escape, there's no place for the prisoners to escape to."

"I see," whispered Lloyd. "Wait," he said, fairly loudly as she started to move. "You shouldn't move too much. I may have healed your wound but you need rest."

"Please," begged Sheena, their eyes meeting once again. "I owe the people of this city for room and board. Please, help me rescue them." Her eyes were begging him, pleading with him to say yes.

What could hurt? He was already going to the ranch to defeat Kvar, what would a little help hurt? Besides, he wouldn't be able to spend any more time with her any other way. This was, he could truly say good bye without regret. "All right," he said after a long thought. "I'll help you."

"Thank you," said Sheena, her eyes grateful. "What's your name?"

"Lloyd," said Lloyd. What could telling him his name do? "I'm not at the liberty of telling you my last name at the moment. I'm sorry."

* * *

Sheena followed behind Lloyd on their way to the ranch. She had really thought that he was **him**. After all, they looked the same and acted slightly identical. But, she knew that was a stupid idea. After all, this was Sylvarant and that boy had been in Tethe'alla. But she had looked all over Meltokio and not a single face resembled the boy's as much as his did. But if he didn't know her, well, there was no choice for her. How old was that boy now? Probably 17. Most likely he had found another girl and settled down. Sheena tried to persuade herself that he wouldn't want her want her anyway. But she couldn't help feeling weak without him.

Meanwhile, Lloyd had his own thoughts ahead of Sheena. He felt so incomplete without his old friend talking with him. But he remembered how Yuan had told him about him falling in love with a girl long ago. He told him that when she died he was so devastated that he joined Cruxis. Lloyd had vowed never to make stupid mistakes like that. Besides, Yuan had warned him that around his late twenties, his exsphere would most likely stop his aging completely. And if he fell in love, well, he would be as weak as Yuan was. He knew he couldn't let that happen.

* * *

Me: I hate to end it there, but I really have to get to work on stories that have fallen slightly behind. And we have a review!

**Heisui: **Yeah, a lot of people liked his scar. I'm glad you like it too.

And remember, the only sure pairings in this story are SheenaxLloyd and RainexRuins. Please review!


	8. The Sins of Kvar

Yeah, you know the drill, reviews first.

**Dog of the Dead: **Yeah, RainexRuins has to be one of the best pairings ever. And want to know what's the best part? It's CANON!

**Ruler of the Dimensions: **Gyah! KratosxCrazyfangirl? Help me!

**Eternum123: **Hmm, good idea. I still have a while to go, so I can think while writing. Thank you.

**Freakyanimegal456: **Sorry about the Sheloyd, but it's too late now. Thank you.

**Lloyd-forever: **Yeah, RainexRuins has to be a fairly new pairing.

**Lady Nephenee Ranulf: **Grr, grammar comes back to haunt me once again, sorry about that. And we'll eventually find out how Lloyd reacts…

**Berserk1: **Thank you so much. I'm honored.

**Crystal Adept: **Sorry about the short chapter, but I wanted to get it out. And if a chapter of mine is really long, then it can take me days, even weeks to get it out.

**Meowzy-chan: **Yeah, Kraine sometimes gives me the chills as well. Thanks for the review!

**Royal Fanatic: **Thanks for reviewing. Each one means something.

Now, we go to the human ranch. And something happens there that changes everything… Ready…? BEGIN!

* * *

Chapter 8: The Sins of Kvar

* * *

The human ranch loomed ahead of them, like gazing into a tornado. Lloyd had seen quite a few, but had never been in one. His eyes started gazing at the ground. How would Sheena react when she found out what exspheres required to be created? After all, they each had their own exspheres. Each of them used a human life. Meaning that each of them relied on dead humans to defeat an enemy. He was no stranger to death, but what about Sheena? But what really mattered now was sneaking into the ranch.

"How are we supposed to get in?" asked Lloyd, he hoped that Sheena had an idea. After all, this was her idea.

"Well, I was originally going to attack the ranch by myself," she explained, opening up a bag. She pulled out a female Desian uniform. "But are you wanted by the Desians?"

"I'm afraid not," said Lloyd, slowly sitting on a rock. He held his chin up with his hands. "I have never actually been to a human ranch."

"Well, then this could be a problem," whispered Sheena. She also sat against a tree, dropping her bag on the ground. Lloyd sincerely hoped that he hadn't ruined everything. "I mean, I know that I can't sneak you in with you wearing those clothes."

_Great,_ thought Lloyd. _What if we're found? This human ranch must be crawling with Desians. Wait, if it's crawling with Desians then…_ "Sheena!" said Lloyd out of nowhere. "Do you think that they have a patrol around here?"

"Hmm, probably," said Sheena thoughtfully. "If they don't want anyone sneaking in and no one sneaking out. Do you think that we'll be found?"

"At the moment, that's exactly what we want," said Lloyd, leaping up. "We can beat them up and steal their uniforms!"

"Exactly!" whispered Sheena, fairly quietly. "Come on, I think the patrol is coming this way, let's ambush them." She leapt up, excited. Lloyd was slightly better at hiding his excitement, but still stood up. A fight, exactly what he wanted. Together they ran into the bushes, Lloyd putting his hands on his swords and Sheena pulling out some cards with symbols on them. In unison, they kneeled down in the bushes, waiting for the Desians.

Lloyd, using his angel senses, could hear the Desians heading their way. Slowly he unsheathed his swords, which earned him a confused look from Sheena. He didn't blame her; she couldn't hear them as well as he could. But soon her look vanished as she looked in the source of a plodding sound. Her grip on her cards tightened as the Desians neared them. "3, 2, 1," whispered Lloyd. "Now!" As he shouted now, the Desians turned in their direction. He and Sheena leapt into the air, weapons raised. "Hell pyre!" Two of the Desians fell to the ground from Lloyd's attack. They soon recovered and leapt up, which Sheena was prepared for.

"Pyre seal!" she shouted, hitting them with some of her cards. Several cards exploded from that point, knocking them away while Lloyd ran to the spell caster.

"Lightning blade!" he shouted, striking the spell caster with one of his swords. Lightning arose from that spot, throwing the spell caster out of his concentration and stopping the spell he prepared. Determined to fight back, he raised his staff and struck Lloyd. His power wasn't enough to defeat Lloyd, who only flinched and started to fight back. Meanwhile, Sheena was fighting the two female spear users.

"Pyre seal!" she shouted once more. Yet every time she struck, they just stood up once more. "Pyre seal! Pyre seal! Pyre seal!" And they still stood up. With all these Desians, she couldn't summon Corrine.

"Sheena!" shouted Lloyd running over. "You battle the spell caster! I'll take care of these."

"Gotcha!" shouted Sheena, running ninja style over to the spell caster and striking him with a pyre seal.

"Double demon fang!" shouted Lloyd, swinging his swords twice at one of the Desians. These people just wouldn't give up. Lloyd felt his eyes slowly turning yellow as the Desian struck him with her spear and sending a bolt of lightning down his spine. He lost all control. He reached out and grabbed her spear. She attempted to keep a hold of it but Lloyd was much stronger than her. Soon her spear was ripped out of her grasp, leaving splinters in her hands.

Lloyd raised the spear. Using both his hands, he started bending it. Sheena and the Desians stopped fighting for a few moments and watched. No normal human being would be able to split that spear. Yet, Lloyd ripped it apart as if were a mere twig. Its user watched as her spear splintered in front of her eyes.

Now that she was defenseless, Lloyd knew that there was no way for her to be victorious. Pulling out one of his swords, he shouted "Hurricane thrust!" His sword went right through her arm, blood spurting everywhere. The Desian screamed in hellish pain. Her limp body fell into a pool of blood at Lloyd's feet.

Sheena snapped out of her trance. What she had just seen was completely inhuman, but they had to win at all costs. "Pyre seal!" she shouted, catching the spell caster completely off guard. Meanwhile, Lloyd turned to the other Desian.

"Hell pyre!" he shouted once again, firing balls of flame at her. Once she collapsed on the ground, Lloyd leaned over her. All of a sudden, he started stabbing her mercilessly, one after the other. Soon, she too was dying in a pool of fresh blood. In a quick swipe, Lloyd cleaned off his swords. Slowly he turned, wondering if Sheena needed help.

"Pyre seal! Pyre seal!" Sheena was striking the Desian mage one time after the other. Yet it appeared that Pyre seal had little to no effect on it. Lloyd knew that most likely she would need his help, so he sprinted over to her side. Realizing that she could now summon Corrine, Sheena ran behind Lloyd. "I summon thee! Let's go Corrine!"

Lloyd gazed upwards, looking at the fox, but that wasn't what he was thinking about. This meant she was a summoner; summoning was a lost art in Sylvarant. This meant that she really did come from Tethe'alla. As soon as the fox started running back to Sheena, Lloyd rushed forward. "Double Demon fang!" He knew that the mage wouldn't be able to withstand this attack; after all, he and Sheena had attacked him too many times to count. And he was right, the mage did die there, sparing him from the hellish executions that Lloyd had carried out.

"Do you feel bad?" asked Sheena as Lloyd began gathering any items of worth on the bodies. "You know, killing them and then stealing their items?"

Lloyd remembered when Yuan had brought back a tape of what human ranches were like. He remembered seeing the humans brought in like cattle and treated like such until the day that they would suffer a brutal death and turned into exspheres. "No," he whispered. "Saying that may make me sound heartless, but I think that after what the Desians do, they really don't deserve to die with dignity." He turned his eyes towards Sheena.

Sheena took one look at his eyes and leapt back. Was that normal? His eyes were completely inhuman; they were yellow like an animal's. But when she blinked and looked into them again, they were the normal hazel that she had seen before. "Sheena, is something wrong?"

"N-no," whispered Sheena, looking anywhere but at his eyes in fear that they would go back to that fearful yellow. She had felt so scared at the look of them. "It's nothing. I just thought I saw something, that's all." When she looked at him again, his eyes were definitely normal. They showed no emotion, like they were usually. His face, his hazel eyes, his long, slightly shaggy, brown hair, he looked so much like that boy. But, if he lived in Sylvarant, he couldn't know about Tethe'alla and then he probably wouldn't know about her. "Here, I'll change over there, you can change behind that tree."

* * *

Sheena walked deep into the bushes. Making sure no one was watching, she untied her obi and started changing. Lloyd seemed to have buried hate inside of him, so deep that he didn't show it normally. Once again, she glanced about. She had felt so self-conscious ever since that idiot chosen had tried peeking in on her. Once she was sure that no one was watching, she started reaching for the Desian clothes.

She, herself, had sadness buried inside of her that she told no one about. She knew that she would never tell anyone. After those boys had left, the village children had started bullying her again. Well, that brown haired boy had left her so there was no one to save her. But, he had angel wings. Did that mean that he was an angel and that he was in the tower of salvation? Maybe if she went there she could see him again.

She picked up the dagger and placed it in her belt. She would always keep it, always. After all, the boy had told her that she would need it someday and that someday could be any day. Pulling up her visor, she walked out of the bushes and back into the clearing.

* * *

"Lloyd," she whispered, looking around for him. He wasn't in this clearing. "Lloyd?" She noticed movement by the bushes. Was Lloyd still changing? She knew that if he was, there was no way that she would go back there. But what if he was in trouble? He could have been caught by the Desians. She shook herself, deciding that it would be better to still have Lloyd around then have to rescue. Slowly, she walked towards the trees. At first she saw nothing but leaves. But then, she saw what must be Lloyd's back.

As she walked closer, she saw that he was about to pull on the Desian coat. But then she saw something that made her leap back and gasp silently. Lloyd's back was covered with many scars, all of different sizes, some so large they stretched across his back and some so small she could hardly see them. What could have done that? Closing her eyes, she ran back to the clearing as fast as she could, hoping to avoid Lloyd.

She hardly noticed all the branches that she pushed out of her way. Her thoughts were on the scars. They looked as if a Desian whip had inflicted them. Did this mean that he had been to a ranch before? Reaching the clearing, she collapsed, clutching her stomach, breathing as fast as she could. So Lloyd was like her, he had many secrets that he would share with none. She shouldn't have walked in; if Lloyd were in trouble, then he would be able to take care of himself; after all, she had seen him in battle. Hell, he could use magic despite being a human.

If she hadn't walked in, she would never have seen those scars. Lloyd must have been put through hell to receive them; obviously he didn't want to talk about them. Sheena wouldn't ask; it was none of her business.

* * *

Meanwhile, Lloyd was completely unaware that Sheena had seen his scars. The mage clothes felt slightly baggy, but that was how they were made to be, baggy. He still had his exsphere out, Yuan had taught him to never take off his exsphere. It had a key crest, so it wasn't like he would get sick without it. But, also he knew that without it, he was as weak as a human. Of coarse, he would still have magic powers, but he may no be able to lift both of his swords.

So he would kill Kvar soon. He wondered vaguely if there was a way to have Sheena not find out about how exspheres were made. It would be better if she didn't know where her inhuman powers came from. He knew she would feel worse than he did; he had experience with death. If death were a class, Lloyd would have majored in it. But Sheena may not have experienced it as he did. True, she had been called a murderer, but still, it may not have been her fault.

Sheena's eyes immediately looked over at the movement by the trees. Lloyd emerged, wearing the mage's clothes. _Okay, Sheena, _she thought. _Act like you never saw his scars._ "Okay, now we sneak in?"

"Nope," said Lloyd, reaching into his pocket. "Here, we need these I.D. cards." He threw one of the female ones to Sheena, who managed to catch it.

* * *

"You!" demanded one of the Desian guards. "There were three of you! What happened to the third?"

"Now what do you mean?" demanded Lloyd. Sheena had no idea how he managed to remain so calm in a time like this. He even had the courage to talk back to the Desian. "We aren't the patrol unit; we just came back from Lord Pronyma."

_Who is Pronyma?_ Thought Sheena. But, the Desian seemed to be fearful now.

"Lord Kvar has been waiting! Hurry in!"

As soon as no Desians were in earshot, Sheena started whispering to Lloyd. _"How did you know that would work?"_

"_I didn't,"_ whispered Lloyd. _"It was just a educated guess. Pronyma is the leader of the Desian grand cardinals; obviously she needs to communicate with Kvar. Most likely, he would at least once send messengers and expect them back. Let's hope the real messengers don't come over here."_

* * *

Lloyd and Sheena managed to get through the gate of the ranch without much incident, however, as Lloyd pointed out, they would have to defeat Kvar and release the hostages before they discovered that they were humans. And their fears were almost realized when they reached the main room. A Desian with a whip gazed at them; a suspicious look on his face. In fear, they sped walked to the nearest room. There, they found separate rooms and changed back into normal clothes.

"What now?" asked Sheena. "With these clothes, we obviously can't walk about the ranch and expect to not be seen."

But Lloyd hardly heard her. His attention was drawn to the machine in the center of the room. "This appears to be," he whispered, pressing a button. A map of the ranch appeared on a hologram. "Ah, yes, a map of the ranch. Now, adding in the information of the surveillance cameras," he whispered as he pressed a few more buttons, each making a small 'beep' noise. He then stood back and watched as the map became more detailed. Soon, they could see all the details of the ranch and even people walking about.

"Hey, they don't look like Desians," whispered Sheena, pointing at a group of people who were battling the Desians at the front of the ranch. Lloyd gazed at where she was pointing. Sure enough, the people weren't wearing the blue uniforms of Kvar's ranch. He looked closer and jumped. He managed to make out the girl Colette, the boy Genis, the auburn haired man, and the silver haired woman.

"That's the chosen," he said, fairly loudly. "This is my chance!"

"Wait, what are you talking about?" demanded Sheena. Lloyd suddenly remembered that he hadn't told her about trying to kill the chosen.

"Sheena, I haven't told you everything," he said. His eyes appeared to be turning a little lighter. "I know you may turn against me now, but I have to tell you. It is my job to assassinate the chosen." _And it was what you're here to do as well._

"No," whispered Sheena. "I won't turn against you, because," she said, her eyes to the ground. "I was trying to kill Colette as well."

"Well, then," said Lloyd, pretending to be relived. "Let's kill her together."

"Well," said Sheena, gazing at the ground. "I mean, you've had doubts as well? I mean, after all, we're killing off the chosen of Sylvarant after all."

"Yes, I've had my doubts," whispered Lloyd. "But, it's not like we have a choice, do we?"

"No," said Sheena fairly sadly.

"Say, Sheena," said Lloyd, gazing at her dagger. "How long have you had that dagger?"

"Oh, this," said Sheena, gazing at her dagger as well. "A boy who helped me gave it to me a long time ago."

"But it's so old," whispered Lloyd. "Why do you keep it?"

"Because it's a precious memory," said Sheena, with a sad little smile.

Lloyd looked away so that she couldn't see how big his eyes were. He had worried that she had forgot or that it wasn't really hers. But it was hers and she remembered.

* * *

"What the?"

Sheena and Lloyd's heads snapped to the side at the sound of a boy's shouting, so fast they almost hurt their necks. The chosen's group stood in the doorway. The young boy named Genis looked angrier than Lloyd had ever seen him. "The assassin and the Desian are here? What now?"

"If I am a Desian," said Lloyd, looking at the ceiling in a laid back way. "And this is a human ranch, then I guess that I shouldn't stand out here. But since I do, either you remember me or you're just an idiot who thinks everyone stands out."

"Why you!" shouted Genis, but the auburn haired man stopped him by pulling on his shoulder. Just as Lloyd had predicted, a long scar stretched across the eye that wasn't hidden by hair.

"Genis, it would be best if we didn't fight with them, we're here only on the chosen's wishes," he said calmly. Genis let out a growl, but held back. However, Lloyd wasn't done taunting.

"Why are you on the journey of regeneration?" he demanded. "You realize that Spiritua also regenerated the world? And now look, Sylvarant's in decline once again. So you might regenerate the world, but in a few years, this world will need saving again. The regeneration journey is pointless and futile."

"Shut up!" shouted Genis. Lloyd had struck a point, calling Colette useless like that.

"Why should I?" asked Lloyd. "After all I." But a door opening suddenly cut off Lloyd. Everyone's head turned quickly, except for Lloyd's and the auburn haired who turned their heads coolly and slowly. Lloyd recognized the men running through as Botta and the two renegades whom were always with him.

"Oh, it's you," said Botta coolly, looking at the man. He and Lloyd didn't make eye contact.

"Do you wish to fight us?" demanded Genis. Lloyd really thought that he sounded to demanding for his own good.

"I think it would be in both of our best interests to not fight here," said Botta, ignoring the demanding Genis.

"Do what you will," whispered the auburn haired man. With that, the renegades ran towards the doors, stopping only right before reaching in. Lloyd knew why they stopped, he could hear footsteps on the other side of the door. Unaware that the auburn haired man and Colette were right behind him, he ran over to the door.

As he expected, as the door opened, Desian mages were casting spells. He quickly calculated his chances and realized that there was no way to escape and not get severely wounded. As the fireballs flew at him, he shouted "Guardian" and summoned a sheild around him. He was right on time, and the spells bounced right off him. He turned to Colette and the man. The man had managed to cast his own guardian and was unharmed. Colette, however, hadn't had time and had taken a direct hit. She did clutch at her arm, but it didn't appear to be in pain, but instead to hide the wound. She must not feel anything now.

"Colette are you all right!" shouted Genis. He appeared to be very worried about the young girl. Colette slowly managed to rise.

"I'm okay," she said in a fake cheery voice. Obviously none knew about her not being able to feel anything; if they did, they wouldn't be so worried. And she obviously wasn't about to tell them.

"No time for that!" shouted the man. He was looking behind them. "Behind you!"

In unison, all of them turned slowly. A light blonde haired man stood in the doorway. He was wearing the Desian uniform and his eyes were in very tiny slits. Lloyd immediately recognized him as Kvar, leader of the Desian grand cardinals. Yuan had showed him a picture of him before. "Well, well," he said in a slightly quiet voice. "When I heard we had rats I assumed it was the renegade Botta. But it turns out we have some inferior beings."

"Who are you?" demanded Genis, but the man wasn't interested in answering his question.

"You barge into my ranch and then you demand my name?" taunted the man.

Lloyd sighed in annoyance. This kid annoyed him to no end. "He's Kvar, one of the Desian grand cardinals."

"Well, I see that some of you know me," taunted the man. Lloyd could hardly see anything in his eyes, but he could make out the tiniest sign of recognition. "So, you're Lloyd?"

"That depends," taunted Lloyd. "Which Lloyd?" But, he wasn't interested in paying attention to Kvar. Instead, he started chanting quietly. "Lightning!" While it didn't hit Kvar, it made him leap out of the way of the door, letting them escape through the door.

* * *

"I think it would be best if we didn't fight here," said Colette as they were running away from the doorway. "After all, we're both escaping here."

"Whatever," said Lloyd. _After all, I'd win._ He didn't care at all, he could kill Colette another time. He just had to either kill Kvar or he had to escape. They just had the same goal now.

The conveyer belts nearby made Lloyd uneasy. After all, he hoped that he could get Sheena out of here still having no clue how exspheres were made. But he was realizing that was a dead hope. After all, they were nearing the exsphere manufacturing sector, soon she would see the humans becoming those stones. Maybe things would be better if they all knew the truth about these stones.

Colette, who was leading, had come to a complete stop. That must mean that she had seen the humans and the exspheres replacing them. As he expected, she let out a small cry. "Wait, what's going on?" Lloyd was about to answer, but realized that doing that would give away who he was and would probably also destroy the renegades.

"Are those people, turning into…exspheres?" asked Sheena, sounding scared. She and the rest of the group moved in for a closer look, not hearing the footsteps behind them.

"This is where the exspheres are manufactured." They turned abruptly to see Kvar behind them. "The humans cultivate them and then they are able to use."

"So you mean," said Sheena sadly. "That exspheres are made from…human lives?"

"Why yes," said Kvar, in a treacherous voice. "Now, Lloyd," he said, turning to Lloyd, who was silently praying that he didn't recognize him for a renegade. "That exsphere is without a doubt the product of my Angelus project! I demand that you return it now."

Lloyd stood back. "I'm not about to hand it over. My mentor told me never to remove it, even if my life was in danger."

_Mentor? _Thought the auburn haired man. _That doesn't sound like something Botta would be. So, this mentor must be the leader of the renegades. Who is that?_

"You have no choice," taunted Kvar. "Do you even know who made that exsphere? That exsphere was cultivated on human A012, human name Anna, your mother. When she turned into a monster, your father killed her."

"What the hell?" shouted Lloyd. "You're wrong, an evil angel killed my parents!"

"Who cares!" taunted Kvar. "They were a bunch of inferior beings anyway!"

The man's eyes appeared to fill with rage and offence. "Do not speak ill of the dead!"

"Hand over your exsphere!" shouted Kvar. The Desians started swarming in. Lloyd looked behind him. The only escape was a conveyer belt that was heading down and the only way he would be able to escape would be with his wings. What could he do? But, before he could make a decision, Sheena stepped in front of them all.

"I'm going to use the last one grandpa," she whispered, looking at her one cards. She closed her eyes and slammed it down. A spirituals being appeared out of the smoke from the cards, fairly quickly for a fairly large being. Lloyd felt a pulling sensation and realized that it must be Mizuho magic and closed his eyes as the wind whistled in his very long hair. He felt like he was floating through the walls, away from the human ranch.

* * *

When he opened his eyes, he was outside of the human ranch. He gazed around him. Sheena had taken them all out of the ranch safely. "Thank you Sheena!" said Colette fairly loudly.

"Don't mention it," said Sheena, bashfully. "But shouldn't we get out of here?"

"Yeah, let's head back to Luin for a bit," said the Genis kid. They walked in silence to the ruined city.

* * *

Lloyd noticed that either he and Sheena were sitting away from the group or the group was sitting away from them. He didn't blame them, after all each of them had tried to kill the chosen at least once, maybe twice for Sheena. He didn't know what to do; it wasn't like he could just leave these people. Maybe this would be a chance to kill the chosen. But Sheena interrupted him in his thoughts. "I can't believe that exspheres are made from human lives."

"This is Marble's life," whispered Genis.

"That explains it all," whispered Lloyd, hoping this would convince them that he didn't know the truth about exspheres before hand. "That's why no humans have come back from the ranch alive."

"This just brings more incentive to regenerate the world," said Colette standing up. "When I regenerate the world, the Desians will vanish."

_Foolish girl,_ thought Lloyd. _You'll never defeat the Desians; only chase them over to Tethe'alla who in turn will chase them back to you. All that you can accomplish is dying._

* * *

Me: Sorry about not updating for a while, but I was determined to get a long chapter in and other stories have been holding me back.

Zelos: No, she's just lazy.

Me: _Goes into a killing rage._ KILL YOU!

Zelos: Help! Evil Demonic Banshee J.R.!

Me: KILL YOU! KILL YOU! KILL YOU!


	9. Is this Truly Revenge?

Sheena: Where's Me? And what happened to her house?

Me: Pant, pant, sorry, I was trying to kill Zelos but ended up ruining my house Kratos!

Kratos: What do you want with me?

Me: Hehe, it'll take a lot of work to hide your name.

Kratos: Whatever. Ready…? BEGIN!

* * *

Chapter 9: Is This The Real Revenge?

* * *

_Sheena was running through the forest again. She was young, about 11. The wind blew back her hair, making it loose from its ponytail. Still she ran, the dirt of the forest floor sticking to her bare feet. He had to be here, the boy with wings. She felt a shaking feeling from her belt and she removed her dagger. It had a light bluish gray gleam around it. The light was darker blue on the runes. It appeared to be pointing to her left and turning that way, she saw the boy with his bird like wings._

"_Wait!" she shouted. "Who are you? Please wait! Where are you going?"_

_The boy's eyes opened. As soon as they were fully open, they started turning lighter and lighter until they were no longer a calm hazel but a monstrous yellow. His face showed little to no emotion. "Sheena," came his voice though his mouth wasn't moving. "It's too late for me, I'm an angel and you're a human. We can never see each other again."_

"_Please!" shouted Sheena, not noticing that she was quickly growing older. "I need you. Without you, I'm alone, I'm pathetic, and I'm weak!"_

"_Sheena," he whispered, his voice echoing in her head. His wings started closing around his body. "Please, I don't want you to suffer like I have. Let me disappear."_

"_No!" shouted Sheena. She ran over to him, not realizing that she was 19 now. She placed her hands on his wings and tried to pull them apart. "I won't let you disappear again! I won't!" But despite all her efforts, his wings remained closed, refusing to open._

"_Sheena," came his voice echoing. "Please forgive me. I am already disappearing."_

_"No!" shouted Sheena, still pulling at his wings. Suddenly, a white light flew from his wings, engulfing Sheena as she vanished along with the boy._

* * *

Sheena awoke in cold sweat, her breathing going too fast to be healthy for her. She didn't care; she was too busy thinking about her dream. What did it mean? She gazed over, but all she saw was the auburn haired man sitting against that strange dog and the fire, sparks flying about. She turned on her side. Lloyd was asleep, sitting against a rock. He looked so peaceful asleep; far from the Lloyd that she had seen yesterday, the Lloyd with yellow eyes.

Sheena tried to close her eyes, but felt too scared. What if that boy truly had vanished from her life? Maybe by vanish, he meant that he now was in the Tower of Salvation, where angels were? But how could she get there? The only way she could think of is by joining the chosen but could she do that when she had tried to kill her?

* * *

"There's no way we can sneak into the ranch again," said the auburn haired man. They were sitting in the center of Luin, at the broken fountain site. Once again, Sheena and Lloyd sat away from the chosen's group. "After we snuck in like that."

"So what can we do?" asked the boy named Genis.

"Was there anyone who escaped from the ranch?" asked Raine.

"What do you think?" asked Lloyd, his arms resting behind his head against the fountain. "Did you see the security at that place? The only ones who've escaped without being made into exspheres were those who were either killed off or gassed because their bodies were too weak."

"Hey!" shouted Genis, angry at the fact that Lloyd was insulting the ranch prisoners.

"It's the sad truth," said Lloyd coldly while closing his eyes. "That's what happens to ranch prisoners, they're only useful to the Desians while they're strong and if they aren't well, they're gassed. If you can't stand that you should sit this one out."

"What are you?" demanded Genis. "Don't you feel sorry about those people dying? Do you have any human emotion inside of you?"

"You can't let your emotions get in your way," said Lloyd coolly. "If you do, you're just a fool with a weapon."

"Why are you even with us?" demanded Genis.

"I followed you," answered Lloyd.

"You're really ticking me off!" shouted Genis. "Why are you with the Desians if you're human? Why are you helping us?"

"Who said I was with the Desians?" said Lloyd, opening his eyes slowly to look at Genis. "I was with the Desians when they attacked the Martel temple, so what? How do you know I'm not some mercenary working with the Desians?"

"Whatever," said Genis, looking at the ground. "But why are you battling with us?"

"Because Kvar is a radical bastard," said Lloyd with an evil laugh. "Because I believe he deserves to burn in hell. Is that good?"

"Genis please," whispered Colette, holding Genis back. "Let's try to get along."

"Fine," shouted Genis quietly. Lloyd immediately knew that this girl must be like a calming potion to the people here.

"Well, there is a person who managed to escape the ranch alive," said Sheena who had drawn back from Lloyd and Genis' battle. "He's in Hima and is named Pierto. He may know how to sneak into the ranch."

"Well, it's not like anything else will work," said Raine, standing up. "Noishe let's go!"

Lloyd looked just in time to see a green and white dog running toward them. Well, he at least thought it was a dog but it was much bigger and had huge ears. It looked familiar strangely. It took one look at Lloyd and bounded towards him. Lloyd stood up, his eyes huge. The dog was running faster and faster toward him, finally reaching him and tackling him.

Lloyd fell to the ground under the weight of this huge dog. He attempted to crawl up the fountain, but the dog tackled him again. This was strange. It was as if this dog hadn't seen him for a lifetime. "Noishe, get off him," came the auburn haired man's voice. Grudgingly, the dog got of Lloyd and walked over to the man, his eyes never leaving Lloyd a second. "I'm sorry about that, he may not be mine, but I apologize anyway."

"No, it's okay," whispered Lloyd, pulling himself up by use of the fountain. "All animals do that when there's a new person in their home."

"That's weird," said Genis, looking at Noishe. "He isn't jumping on Sheena."

"Maybe it's because he's seen her before," said Colette quietly packing her up her things. "He's fairly used to her."

* * *

As soon as the auburn haired man turned his back, the dog named Noishe walked over to Lloyd. He let out several whines making Lloyd look at him. "Is there something you want?" he demanded, but felt bad about saying so immediately. "Sorry about that." Why was he apologizing to some dog? This was no ordinary dog.

Noishe continued like that all day. When they started walking to Hima, he wandered over. "Hmm?" said Lloyd, noticing when Noishe nosed his elbow. "Oh, it's you." While Lloyd didn't show it if Noishe was any help, he did let him walk alongside him. Genis looked at the teenage boy with hate. It had taken Genis so long to become trusted by Noishe and this kid just came in and was Noishe's best friend. What made him so special?

Lloyd knew that Genis hated him. He gave them all those angry stares when he thought Lloyd wasn't watching. But Lloyd could sense his glares. Either he was angry that the others trusting Lloyd or he was angry about how Noishe acted so friendly with Lloyd. Maybe it had taken Genis a long time to gain Noishe's trust? Either way, Lloyd didn't care. It wasn't like he would be traveling with this group for very long, after the ranch.

* * *

"Whoa," whispered Lloyd. All the times that he had been in a city, it had either been Mizuho, Meltokio, or ruined Luin. And Yuan hadn't let him explore the city much at all. But now he was with the chosen and was in awe while everyone in the rest of the party stared at him.

"Have you ever been to a city before?" asked Colette.

"Not really," whispered Lloyd, staring at the shops and forgetting who she was for a bit. "Well, I was in a few, but it was only for a short time."

_So, he may have been locked away, _thought Sheena. _Is that why I see fear, sadness, and anger in his eyes?_

"We should meet up with this Pierto soon," said Raine, gesturing towards the inn. "Maybe you should explore later."

* * *

Kratos' POV…

* * *

He really looked like he had almost never seen any town before. He honestly didn't know anything about shops or anything else in the city. And I found myself feeling sorry for Lloyd. The leader of the renegades must be a strict man if he didn't let Lloyd leave the base. And before I knew it, I was speaking. "If you want, I'll show him around while you visit Pierto."

"Well," said Raine, looking from Lloyd's slightly hopeful face to my expressionless face. "All right. But be sure to meet up with us outside of Hima."

"Got you," said Lloyd, his eyes drifting to the shops. I followed him into the market place.

* * *

Normal POV…

* * *

"What are shops for?" asked Lloyd. Being in a city seemed to make him forget about his hatred of the chosen.

"Merchants come here," explained the auburn haired man. "They come here with their goods. And people use gald, which is our currency. If they pay enough gald then they get to take their goods with them. And the merchants use the money to buy whatever they want."

"And what are inns for?" asked Lloyd, looking at the inn.

"Travelers come there to sleep from a journey," explained the sword user. "They also pay gald to have a room."

"So everything revolves around gald?" asked Lloyd.

"Not necessarily," said the man, closing his eyes. "After all, a family could rich and have everything that they wanted. However, to stay rich the parents and anyone else who can has to work. Due to that, the children are always alone and have no one to look after them. And then there's the poor family. They have no gald, no food, and hardly any possessions. However, they always home to watch over their family. In that way, they are better off than the rich family."

_Family?_ Thought Lloyd. _Is it that important? Who is my family? I guess because I have no parents, I have to pick and choose family. Like Zelos is family. Maybe even Yuan and Botta could be considered family. I guess that family needs to stay together._

A creaking noise turned both of their heads. Sheena stepped out of the inn, a sad expression on her face. "How did it go?" asked Lloyd, who was still partially thinking about his family.

"It's no good," said Genis, stepping out from behind Colette. "Pierto is dead."

"What?" demanded Lloyd, suddenly interested.

"He died from a disease," said Colette sadly. "All we have to go off of is his grave. Come on, we should at least is pray."

_Pray?_ Thought Lloyd. _Like pray to Martel? But, why? Oh, wait, that's right, she believes in Martel. I'll just pretend. I mean, after all, Martel has never showed any signs that she exists._

"I really don't think that we can find anything in the grave," said Raine after an examination of the stone. But Lloyd didn't even hear her. "You're right Colette, we can do nothing but pray."

In unison, all their head bowed. Sheena and Lloyd seemed to hesitate at first, but inclined their heads in a bow position for the sake of the others. Sheena was thinking of ways to sneak into the ranch while Lloyd was thinking about how he should kill Colette. _Hmm, they have a night watch,_ he thought. _So night wouldn't be the best of times. And she can't sleep anymore. Maybe poisoning her food. Wait, she can't eat either, so poison isn't an option. Maybe if I stab her neck with my knife. Well, might as well use her for all she's worth and use her to help me kill Kvar. Yeah, after Kvar is dead, I'll stab her in the neck with this poison dagger._

"Cho-sen one," croaked a voice. Lloyd turned around to see a brown haired man wearing blue stumble over to the chosen. "D-die."

"What?" stuttered Colette, looking at the strange man.

"Pierto?" asked Sheena, her eyes wide. "But she said you were dead." She stepped back a few inches in case he was about to attack her. However, a girl with her hair in braids was running up to them.

"Pierto, you're not supposed to leave!" she shouted, pulling at the man's arm.

"Why did you tell us he was dead?" demanded Genis.

"Because he escaped the ranch," whispered the girl, glancing about everywhere. "The Desians think he's at Luin!"

"Luin?" demanded Genis, his fist being ready to be raised. "Because of that, countless lives have been lost."

"Please," asked Colette in her usual polite sense. "If there's anything from the ranch, can we have it? Anything will help at this point."

"There's only one thing," whispered the girl, holding back Pierto. "Here, he had this orb." She handed over what looked like a blue orb.

"Thank you," whispered Colette.

* * *

"This bolder," whispered Lloyd, looking at a boulder blocking a hole off. "Doesn't it look unnatural?"

"Hm, you're right," whispered the auburn haired man.

"This orb," said Colette, gazing into the orb. "It's reacting, almost glowing. Perhaps," she whispered, placing the orb on the boulder. Just as she suspected, the boulder moved aside, revealing a hole.

"Wow, didn't see that coming," whispered Genis, sneaking into the darkness.

* * *

"I see," whispered Raine, gazing at the map that was still up. "You activated it last time? Strange, this technique isn't usually taught to the public. Still, it doesn't matter. Now here," she said making a room at the top flash red. "This must be where Kvar is. However, there is a lock on the door. To deactivate the lock, we'll have to activate two switches, which are located…"

A flash of red and a loud beeping noise cut off Raine. "Damn," she whispered. "We've been spotted. Damn it, this means we won't have enough time to deactivate the switches and defeat Kvar. We'll have to split up."

"So that means that we have to divide?" asked the auburn haired man. "Well, in that case, I would wish to battle Kvar."

"Me too," agreed Sheena.

"And me," said Genis in a hopeful voice.

"This isn't a field trip you know," said Lloyd, taunting Genis once more. Everyone except Sheena started looking at him in a confused way. "Besides, Magnius was only put in the position of grand cardinal because everyone else who was a possibility was weak. Kvar is different; he is one of the strongest grand cardinals. This is no battle for a child."

"Hey!" shouted Genis. "Shut up!"

"Silence," taunted Lloyd, coldly. "Sometimes you sure don't seem to think about how you're a child and this is no field trip."

"Um, how about Lloyd goes after Kvar,' said Colette, trying to break up the inevitable fight. "And Genis deactivates the switches. And Sheena and, um,"

"I'll go with them as well," volunteered the auburn haired man.

"Yeah, and Raine and I will go with Genis," said Colette, hoping that the fight would be over soon.

Genis looked like he wished to protest, but shook himself and nodded, starting off in the direction of the switches.

* * *

"When will they deactivate the switches?" asked Sheena, who now had taken up pacing back and forth in the room going into Kvar's room. She had been growing more and more impatient with each passing minute.

"It may take hours," sighed the auburn haired who was leaning against the wall. "They have no idea where those switches are in that room. It could take them days just to find the first one."

"We don't have days on our hands," said Sheena, who was growing annoyed. "Kvar could find out we're here any second."

"All we can do is hope that they will be done soon," said the auburn haired man.

Suddenly, a clicking noise echoed throughout the room. Looking at the door, Lloyd realized that it looked slightly different than before. Following Sheena onto it, he realized that Colette, Genis, and Raine must have deactivated the switches. He looked up as the white light engulfed him.

* * *

His eyes snapped open in a room full of computers. Gazing around, he saw that Kvar was in the center of the room, talking to a green haired woman on the projector who he assumed was Pronyma, the woman Yuan had told him about. Noticing that Sheena and the man were running over to Kvar Lloyd charged foreword as well.

"So this is Lloyd," said Pronyma, glancing over at Lloyd. "He bears a resemblance, but kind of is a look alike of another seraphim."

"Pronyma," laughed Kvar evilly. "Soon that seraphim will lose power to me with the use of my weapon."

"Oh, you mean Rodyle's plan?" asked Pronyma. "You know you shouldn't trust him."

"You'll see," said Kvar darkly as Pronyma vanished. "While the mana cannon may no longer be a secret, you'll see. After I steal this inferior being's exsphere, the mana cannon can be fired."

"You are mistaken Kvar," said Lloyd in his demonic voice, his eyes turning into a demonic yellow. "I have drunk the legendary medicine that gives me inhuman powers. I am no longer of the inferior race you know as humans."

_What the?_ Thought the auburn haired man. _A look alike of another seraphim? And drinking the legendary medicine, could it be Aionis? If I ever see this leader of the renegades, I am going to kill him._

_What's wrong with Lloyd?_ Thought Sheena. _His eyes are scary again. Does that always happen when he fights? And this legendary medicine… what's wrong with him?_ _He can use attacks like lightning, lightning blade, and hell pyre; most of the time humans can't use those._

"You're no longer a inferior human?" taunted Kvar. "How amusing, you are a weak human and nothing can change that."

"You want to bet?' demanded Lloyd, unsheathing both his swords with equal rage. "Prepare to die, you bastard. Tempest beast!" Lloyd attacked Kvar first with a tempest attack, then with a beast attack, throwing Kvar slightly across the room. Sheena and the auburn haired man charged in as well, not about to let Lloyd battle Kvar alone.

"Lightning!" shouted Kvar, attacking Sheena, who was nearest. Sheena did flinch in her spot, but Kvar's attack wasn't strong enough to stop her. Realizing this, Kvar prepared a stronger spell, attempting to dodge their attacks at the same time.

"Hurricane thrust!" shouted the man.

Following his lead, Lloyd also shouted "Hurricane thrust!"

"Ready?" asked the man. Lloyd nodded and they performed a cross thrust attack, each performing a hurricane thrust in a cross shape.

"You won't beat me that easily,' taunted Kvar. "Thunder arrow!"

Three balls of lightning surrounded Sheena. Remembering seeing Yuan use this attack, Lloyd charged foreword, hoping to warn her, but Sheena wouldn't have been able to escape either way. A bolt of lighting shot from each ball and from above, striking Sheena whom was in the center of it all. She let out an ear piercing scream as she was thrown against the wall. Lloyd looked behind him. Seeing that the man would be able to handle Kvar alone, Lloyd charged, preparing to heal Sheena.

"Nice kid Kratos,' taunted Kvar while he and Kratos clashed weapons. "Did he give you that scar?"

"Burn in hell," whispered Kratos, praying that Lloyd wouldn't hear.

"Oh, no,' whispered Kvar, attempting to strike Kratos. Kratos managed to block his attack once more. "Is it such a problem? Do you want me to tell him the truth?"

"You arrogant son of a bitch," whispered Kratos, still attempting to stab Kvar, but continually blocked.

"Oh that's right,' said Kvar with mock pity in his voice. "Lloyd hates you because some one turned him against you. And you know what? You trusted him, you trusted Y…" But he was completely cut off by Lloyd stabbing him in the side. Blood spurted from his wound but it wasn't fatal yet.

"Hell pyre!" shouted Lloyd, leaping into the air and sending balls of flame down upon Kvar.

Kratos returned to reality. All he knew was the leader the renegades was male and possibly his name began with Y. "Double demon fang!" shouted Kratos, sending two demon fangs after Kvar.

"Pyre seal!' shouted Sheena, knocking Kvar away from Lloyd. "Pyre seal, pyre seal, PYRE SEAL!"

"You little…' Kvar started to say, but instead decided to cast thunder arrow again.

"Sheena!" shouted Lloyd, running over to where she had collapsed. "First aid!"

Kratos looked over in time to see Kvar attempting to attack Lloyd while he healed Sheena. _Damn him,_ thought Kratos as he ran over. "Hurricane thrust!" Kvar was caught off guard completely. His side spurted with blood.

"Hurricane thrust!" shouted Lloyd, also stabbing Kvar.

Sheena turned, just in time to see Colette, Genis, and Raine run in.

* * *

_Damn,_ thought Kvar. _So, I am going to die here. Well, I'll just make Kratos' life a living hell._ "Kratos, you pathetic inferior being!" he shouted.

Lloyd, who had started to clean off his swords, froze. Kratos? This man that he had been with, had slept in the same building with, had conversed with, was the son of a botch that killed his parents?

_Damn it all,_ thought Kratos. _It's over; it's all over. Lloyd knows and I thought there was a possibility that we could get along. Damn you Kvar. _"Feel the pain!" he shouted, stabbing Kvar in the chest and pulling his sword out. "Of those inferior beings," he continues as he stabbed him in the arm. "As you burn in hell." He finished by stabbing Kvar in the neck. Lloyd just stared as Kvar's blood splattered on his face.

Sheena looked at Lloyd. His eyes were still yellow. At first he appeared to be shocked, but now a look of overwhelming rage came over him. She saw his eyes darken and turned blood red as he stood and faced Kratos.

* * *

"You," said Lloyd, his eyes gleaming red like the blood covering his face. "You're the bastard!" he shouted stabbing Kratos in the arm, Colette, Genis, Sheena, and Raine looking on in horror. "You're the son of a bitch!" he shouted stabbing him in the other arm. What was going on? Why wasn't Kratos fighting? Sheena gazed into Kratos' eyes and saw that they were full of tears, mixing with his blood as they dripped down his face. What was going on? He was acting as if his own son had rejected him

"You're the demon who deserves to burn in hell!" shouted Lloyd, stabbing Kratos in the leg. "You're the bastard who killed my parents!" He finished by stabbing Kratos in the other leg. Kratos collapsed on the floor, his blood spurting everywhere. Raine looked on in terror. If Lloyd continued, Kratos would soon be dead. She ran over to the computer.

"There!" she shouted, slamming her fist upon the computer. "In five minutes this ranch will self destruct!"

"Then I'll finish this now!" shouted Lloyd, raising his sword.

"No!" shouted Colette, he angel wings flying out. Jumping in the way of Lloyd's swords, she blocked off Kratos. Lloyd, unable to stop himself, stabbed her in the shoulder. Colette grabbed at her wound.

"Get out of the way!" shouted Lloyd, grabbing the hem of Colette's dress. "Get out of the way you little bitch!"

Genis gasped. He thought that Colette would never be called that.

"No!" shouted Colette, blood dripping down her face. She was strong for a girl who had just been called a bitch. She attempted to throw Lloyd off, but his grip was strong.

"Out of the way!" shouted Lloyd.

"No!" shouted Colette, still trying to throw Lloyd off. "Kratos is a good man! He would never kill a child's parents!"

"You don't know him!" shouted Lloyd. "Now get out of the way!"

"Revenge will only spark more hate!" shouted Colette. "Please listen!" she still tried to throw Lloyd off, but instead he increased his grip.

"Shut up!" shouted Lloyd. "I never had any intention of joining! I hate you, I hate the chosen, and I hate Martel! I only joined so I could kill Kvar and you as well! Don't give me that goodness and happiness shit! You don't understand! You don't understand what it's like to have no parents and to live with this hate! You'll never understand!"

"I know I don't understand!" shouted Colette. "I'll never, ever understand! But please hear me out!"

"No!' shouted Lloyd. "I'll kill you!' He slashed across Colette's other shoulder. She didn't even flinch. "Does that hurt? Of coarse it doesn't! You're a damn angel! You can't eat, sleep, cry, or feel anything!"

"That's enough!" shouted Colette. A light erupted from her body, loosening Lloyd's grip and throwing him against a wall. Raine, Genis, and Sheena rushed over and together managed to lift Kratos off to the warp pad.

* * *

"Damn it all!' shouted Lloyd, punching the wall in frustration. "Damn that chosen! Kratos, you're as good as dead when I see you again if you don't die from blood loss."

* * *

While Colette and her party managed to get outside in time, Lloyd remained inside, waiting for the self-destruct. He smiled as flames erupted from around him. "Death would be a blessing now," he whispered. The flames engulfed him as his eyes closed.

"Will Kratos be okay?" asked Colette looking at Raine with pleading eyes.

"His condition could go either way," whispered Raine, kneeling over the bleeding man. "His wounds are serious. Unless he has a will to live, we may be burying Kratos tonight."

"No!" shouted Colette, knelling over Kratos now, tears in her eyes. "Kratos, you have to live! Please! What will happen to us?"

"At this rate he won't survive the trip to Asgard," whispered Raine. "Luin may be in ruins, but it's better than having to make camp outside of the ranch."

"Hey, where's Noishe?" asked Genis, looking for the dog.

"Noishe is the least of our worries," explained Raine. "If he wants to be with us, he'll come. But with these wounds, Kratos could die." Grudgingly, Genis followed the three women and the wounded man to Luin.

* * *

Meanwhile, Lloyd lay in the ruins of the ranch. He had numerous scars on his body, blood dripping across his body. He still saw the sky, he saw the ruins around him and he saw the trees around. Feeling the wind blow over him, he realized that he really was alive. _Is this what my life is destined to become?_ Thought Lloyd. _It's so much like hell that I can't even use my only escape, which is death. Why couldn't I die?_

But his suicidal feelings flew away with the wind he felt a warm breath on his face. His eyes snapped open to see a dog's nose. He would have sat up but his wounds hurt too much. Noishe seemed to understand and walked to the side. "Thank you," whispered Lloyd, grabbing a handful of Noishe's fur. Using all his strength, he lifted himself onto the large dog's back. "Thank you Noishe," he whispered as Noishe walked with Lloyd on his back away from the ruins of the ranch and the ruins of Luin.

* * *

Muhahahahahahahaha! The evil cliffhanger! Anyway, next are the ruins of Luin (hey, it rhymes!) and what happens there. Once again, please comment on the battle scene and REVIEW! 


	10. A Reason to Live

Me: Hehe, I love cliffhangers.

Sheena: You realize that if this continues to be successful, you could rule the world.

Me: Muhahahahahaha! It's all falling into my plan…

Zelos: Hehe, get me a hot girlfriend, please.

Me: Muhahaha! I worked like hell on the last one. Ready…? BEGIN!

* * *

Chapter 10: A Reason to Live

* * *

"Noishe, why did you come after me?" Lloyd lay on the beach leaning against the large dog, his eyes partly closed, scratches covering his body. He had covered some with makeshift bandages.

But Noishe could only reply with a soft whine.

Lloyd let out a small sigh, curling up next to Noishe. "You may not be human, but who cares? You'll do." After a long yawn, Lloyd fell asleep against the large dog.

* * *

While this was going on, in the ruined town of Luin, Raine had set up a sort of temporary hospital ward inside the old inn. The heavily bandaged Kratos lay on an old sofa with a few blood stained blankets covering him. Colette sat in a corner letting Raine bandage her wounds. Colette had a slight depressed look on her face as Lloyd had given away her secret. Meanwhile Sheena watched the soup while Genis called Noishe's name out, looking for the dog.

"Colette, why didn't you tell us?' asked the worried professor. "We didn't know how much you were suffering."

"I know, I know,' whispered Colette, looking Raine in the eye. "But I knew that you would worry if I told you and I wanted to have this journey be mildly fun."

"You know this is serious,' said Raine, placing her staff on Colette's other shoulder. A white light grew from the tip. "After all, how will you know when a wound is nearly deadly?"

"I'm sorry," whispered Colette.

"Don't worry about Lloyd,' said Raine bandaging Colette's other shoulder. "You're a good person."

"I'm sorry," whispered Colette again.

* * *

Meanwhile, Genis was searching outside in the city. "Noishe! Noishe!" he called out, looking behind statues and under bridges for the dog. But there wasn't even a footprint to be found. "Noishe?" He was getting worried about the dog, where could he be? What if a monster had found him? What if he didn't get anything to eat?

But why would Noishe run away? Hadn't he been happy with them? Where would he run away? Then, Genis remembered the longhaired boy and how Noishe had been friendly with him. Had the boy stolen him? What would he do to Noishe?

Genis collapsed against a bridge pots, holding his head in his hands. Why had things gone so bad? He hadn't got along with Lloyd but he didn't think that he would attack Kratos and Colette like that. He had thought, deep down inside of him, that there was a small probability that Lloyd was a good person. But he had seen him fight; that Lloyd didn't hesitate to use complete inhuman ways to get what he wanted.

Genis suddenly felt very afraid for Colette. She had this monster after her and he seemed even more of a threat than the Desians. Was he even a part of the Desians or just a mercenary? And he seemed to completely hate Kratos and Colette, not just because they were with the chosen but as if he had hated them for his entire life.

Noishe could take care of himself but Genis had left the wounded Colette with only Raine and Sheena to guard her. Before he knew that he could count on Kratos but now he realized that if Colette were attacked then she would need all the protection she could have. Turning around, Genis sprinted back to the ruined inn.

* * *

Sheena didn't feel like she could eat anything after seeing what happen in the human ranch. What had made Lloyd attack Kratos like that? She had seen him angry before, but that time she was terrified of what would happen to them. And what was wrong with his eyes? What sort of human eyes turned yellow and red? Colette was sitting across from her against a tree. Her eyes that were usually happy were trying to cry. Indeed Sheena didn't know if they could succeed with Kratos on the verge of death.

A white sheet hung in the doorway of the wrecked in where Kratos lay. Most of the sheets in Luin had at least several drops of blood on them. With a small movement, the sheet fluttered revealing Raine walking out. Colette leapt over to her, desperate about Kratos.

"Is…he going to be okay?" she asked desperately.

"It's like I said before,' said Raine looking down into Colette's eyes. "He could heal, but he has no will to live. If this continues, there's nothing we can do."

Suddenly, Sheena heard rapid footsteps behind her. Swinging around, she saw Genis sprinting towards them. "Is everything okay?" he shouted.

"I-I'm not sure," said Colette, covering her eyes with her arms, yet unable to cry. "Wh-wh-what if he dies?"

_Why is he like this?_ Thought Sheena. _Kratos can't be like this._ Without truly thinking, she entered the inn. She sat against the wall, facing Kratos. "Kratos, I don't know why you're doing this,' she said, still not really thinking. "But I know what it's like being hated. And it may hurt, but it's nothing to die for.

"Lloyd has anger inside of him; I think we all know that. And I don't know whether you really killed his parents, but I don't think that all his rage is from that. He is also angry how his life is. And I know he hurt you, but if you give in, his rage will only increase and continue killing until he becomes a demon who can't stop killing at all. And for that, you have to live. You have to live for the sake of Lloyd. And you can't die, because if you die, then there will be no hope for us, ever. Even if Colette regenerates this world, there will still be no hope if Lloyd continues like this."

Sheena stood up. She couldn't tell if this had affected Kratos or not. But she knew that there was nothing else she could say or do for him. She walked out, knowing that either she had helped or made the situation worse.

* * *

"Colette, will you be alright?" asked Genis. After all, Colette couldn't eat or sleep.

"Oh, I'll be all right,' said Colette, staring into the fire sadly. "After all, Spiritua went through the same if not worse."

"But how do you know that you'll be all right?" asked Genis.

"I don't,' said Colette, looking across to Genis with a sad smile on her face. "But you don't get anywhere worrying about life. If you worry too much, you don't have the confidence to do anything at all. Live your life without regrets Genis."

Suddenly, Raine walked out from the inn. She looked considerably better. "Kratos is…getting better."

"Oh thank goodness!" shouted Colette, looking happier.

"Yeah," said Genis, looking happier as well. "Hey the soups done, let's eat!"

* * *

Lloyd awoke with a start. Noishe's breathing reacted to his sudden movements but soon calmed down once again. What had that been? He left Noishe at walked out onto the sand.

It had been that nightmare again. The one with his father and Sheena dying had come again. Why did it keep on coming? Lloyd splashed seawater in his face. Sheena would never know about the past, never. So why were these dreams haunting him? He fell, face down onto the sand and started pounding it with his fist.

"_Lloyd!"_

"Yes Yuan?" It had been a while since Yuan had last called. But he sensed it had something to do with the fact that the chosen had completed the tower of Mana. Lloyd would soon find out that he was right.

"_The chosen is heading to the tower of Salvation tomorrow!" _came Yuan's voice. _"You have to kill her before she completes the seal! Botta will meet up with you!"_

"Understood!" said Lloyd. He heard Yuan turn off. So, it had gotten down to this. This meant that he would have go to the tower, where Yggdrasil would be. Man, he hoped he wouldn't have to fight the leader of Cruxis.

* * *

"Lloyd!" shouted Botta. He stood with several ready to fight renegades. "The chosen is inside, we have to hurry."

"Damn it all," whispered Lloyd, who had a feeling that they would be too late. Completely running past the renegades, he sprinted up the stairs into the tower, the renegades following behind him. Through the steps they entered a hall with a see-through floor. Lloyd only glanced slightly at the coffins and hurried on. He was too used to death to notice them anymore than that. With the renegades close behind, he leapt onto the warp pad.

They entered into a larger room with a pedestal in the center. Lying around the pedestal were Sheena, Genis, and Raine. Standing on the pedestal was Colette, Kratos, and a blonde haired man who Lloyd assumed was Yggdrasil. Colette's eyes were red and her wings were out. _Damn,_ thought Lloyd. _She's in that form._

"Damn it," swore Botta. "The chosen's already become an angel. We have no choice, we're taking her back alive."

"And who is this person who wants her?" demanded the blonde.

"Damn you Kratos," whispered Lloyd, his eyes changing color. "You'll die in this damned place!"

_Shit,_ thought Botta. _If Lloyd fights both of them, he'll die here. Yuan won't stand for it._

Lloyd slashed back the blonde's attacks with the use of his swords while the renegades grabbed Colette. As soon as the renegades had her, Lloyd started to prepare for battle. "Damn it Lloyd!" shouted Botta, pulling him back. "Don't die in this hell!" Lloyd attempted to throw off Botta, however, his trial was in vain and all he could do was give Kratos a look that could kill the dead.

_What the?_ Thought Kratos, looking at Lloyd. _The ponytail, the clothes, could it be?_ He continued thinking these thoughts as Lloyd was dragged out with the other renegades.

"Renegades," spat the blonde. "As irritating as ever. Still, it is of little consequence; Kratos, let us leave." As the last words came out of his mouth, he slowly vanished into a ball of light.

"Raised by the renegades," whispered Kratos, gazing at the spot where Lloyd had been. "But those clothes… I'm going to have a talk with Yuan. Don't die Lloyd." Soon he too had disapeared into a ball of light, flying upwards, feathers flying about.

* * *

"I see," said Yuan, looking at his desk rather than at Lloyd and Botta. "So you were too late?"

"I'm sorry sir," said Botta. "I was responsible."

"It doesn't matter who was responsible and who isn't," said Yuan calmly. "Where can they go? After all, the technology that can save the chosen isn't in Sylvarant."

"But it's in Tethe'alla," said Botta.

"Hm, and that Sheena girl is from Tethe'alla," whispered Yuan. "If they go to Tethe'alla, then they may be able to save Colette."

"But how do we know she won't try to return to Cruxis?" asked Botta. "After all, if it weren't for her companions, she would have sacrificed herself to Cruxis."

"So we should have someone watch her close up," said Yuan, looking about. "After all, if we watch her from a distance again, we can't find out any plans."

"Last time we knew where they were going," said Botta, as if hinting at something. "After all, we have connections to Cruxis and knew the journey of regeneration. But this time, we have no idea where they're heading."

"Lloyd," said Yuan, looking at his own hands rather than Lloyd's eyes. "You have already accompanied the chosen, correct?" When Lloyd nodded, Yuan continued. "Then they may have a little trust left for you. So, I assume you have no objections?"

The old Lloyd, before Yuan's lessons, may have objected. But instead, Lloyd nodded slightly. _I'll just have to come up with some excuse,_ he thought. _I'll say that I was trying to kill Kratos because I knew about him being with Cruxis. But now I'll have to get ready to go to Tethe'alla._

* * *

"Botta," said Yuan when Lloyd was out of earshot. "I have to return to Derris Kharlan. Kratos has asked a discussion with me, so our little secret may be out. If that's true, try to make sure that no one from Cruxis has a talk with Lloyd or anything like that. Kratos will try to get Lloyd back, but from my tales of Kratos, hopefully that will be next to impossible."

_I really don't like where this is going,_ thought Botta. _If Kratos knows the truth and Yggdrasil does as well, then there isn't much that can be done about Lloyd. Yggdrasil has the eternal sword, so then he may be able to have evidence that Lloyd will not be able to reject. I may not be involved, yet I still fear for how Lloyd will be affected._ "I'll do whatever I can," was all that Botta could say.

"Good," said Yuan, his turquoise wings flying out. "Watch after the base while I'm gone." In a flash of light, Yuan vanished, feathers flying about.

Botta sighed. "Yuan, I don't know how much trouble you've gotten yourself in, but I know one thing; when this secret is out, heads will roll."

* * *

Me: kKnd of a short chapter, but hey Kratos isn't dead! _Puffballs are seen in the background doing the "Yay! Kratos isn't dead!" dance._ But what does Kratos want with Yuan? And whom will Lloyd meet first? And why hasn't my ramen boiled yet? These questions will be answered next time! 


	11. The Reunion

Yay! It's chapter 11!

Zelos: Remember your promise?

Me: What promise?

Sheena: Remember what you said last time?

Me: I have no idea. _Backs away slowly._

Kratos: You said that those questions that were left last time.

Me: Oh right, my ramen never boiled.

Zelos: And what about the others?

Me: Oh, that I lied about.

Sheena: Sigh, Me won't tell us.

Me: Ready…? BEGIN!

* * *

Chapter 11: The Reunion

* * *

"Come on Noishe!" Lloyd encouraged the large dog down the trail of the Fooji Mountains. Only coming when Lloyd made the steady hand movements, Noishe placed one paw foreword to check to see if the ground was steady. Realizing that he wouldn't fall through, the large dog moved foreword again. Lloyd let out a sigh of relief. Hopefully he could meet up with the chosen in Meltokio. Meltokio. Wasn't that where Zelos was? Well, he may have been forced on the journey of regeneration already. But, if he knew the truth, then most likely, he wouldn't go without a fight. And maybe he wouldn't release the seals either. But still, Lloyd worried for his friend.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the renegade base, Sheena was awakening. One glance around showed her that her companions were still asleep. Pulling her legs up to her chest, she remembered the previous events.

After getting off the dragons, they had entered the tower of salvation. After the warp pad, they had seen Colette praying on that platform. Remial, the angel that had claimed to be Colette's father had tried to take her to Martel to be transformed into a vessel for the person who they had thought to be a goddess. But if she was transformed into a vessel, Colette would die. Sheena, Raine, and Genis had fought Remial and had defeated him, however they soon found out that Kratos had been betraying them from the start of their journey.

Kratos' wounds had healed in amazing ways since the human ranch. But during that fight, he had fought in ways too powerful for someone who had just revived from almost deadly wounds. But after all, he was both and angel and a Seraphim; he would be powerful.

Then, as Kratos was about to strike the final blow, another angel had appeared. This angel had introduced himself as Yggdrasil, the leader of both Cruxis and the Desians. Wait a minute. Leader of both Cruxis and the Desians? Sheena froze. She had thought that the Desians and Cruxis were enemies. But did this mean that they were the same group? And those people who had saved them, they looked like Desians. How many secrets did Sheena not know about?

* * *

_Stop staring damn it._ Lloyd knew that Noishe stood out in Meltokio, but he couldn't just leave the dog outside. After all, this was Tethe'alla, not Sylvarant. The dog could get lost and be unable to find Lloyd again. But he was beginning to despise the stares from the nobles around. _Just look away,_ he reminded himself. _Eventually, they'll stop being so surprised and just go about daily life. _But if anything, the civilians of Meltokio stared even more. _Okay then,_ he thought. _Maybe both of you stand out a lot. But if you don't do anything wrong, then they have nothing to complain._

Noishe seemed timid of the people as well. He flinched away whenever a brave child so much as ventured near him or Lloyd. Lloyd was surprised at the number of people nearing them. Both he and Noishe looked fairly scary for a child. But maybe people in Tethe'alla had gotten braver since he had been here.

Suddenly, Lloyd turned about very quickly. People nearby stared at the sudden movement but Lloyd didn't care. He had the strange sensation that they were being followed. Noishe seemed to sense it as well. He let out a quiet whine of fear and his fur bristled slightly. But all Lloyd saw was the moving crowd going about their business. Slowly he turned around, one hand on Noishe and the other hand gripping the hilt of one of his swords.

But no sooner did he do that then did he turn around abruptly again. The crowd stared again, astonished at his strange behavior. Lloyd's eyes widened. There was no doubt about it; someone was following them. He felt his grip on his sword hilts grow wet with sweat.

But instead of a strange stalker, he heard several giggling girls and one mans voice. _Must be some sort of man with quite a few prostitutes,_ he thought, turning about holding onto Noishe's side. But he froze when he heard the voice.

"Aw, come on ladies, there's only one of me, you have to share."

_What the hell?_ Thought Lloyd. _Is that him?_

Sure enough, the next voice he heard gave it away. "But master Zelos, it's so hard!"

_Master Zelos?_ Thought Lloyd, his grip on Noishe's fur tightening. The dog let out a few whines of discomfort but Lloyd was still lost in thought. _So it is him._

"I know, I know," said the male's voice as he came into view. A young man of about 22 with red hair and a pink coat was talking to several ladies. If it hadn't been for his voice, you may have thought him to be a very pretty girl. He had deep eyes that appeared to be both blue and green at the same time. "It's hard but you must…" he started to say, but froze at the sight of Lloyd who was also frozen. The women who he was talking to turned towards this man who had distracted Zelos.

_So after all these years,_ thought Lloyd. _He's still his happy self. But, why pink?_

"Lloyd!" shouted the man running over, the female stalkers following him in pursuit. "Hey how many years have it been? You haven't been turned evil by Yuan have you? Cool, you grew your hair long. Hehe, only tough men grow their hair long."

"Um, well," said Lloyd trying to take everything in. "I think it's been about 8 years. And from what I know, I'm not some demented villain. And yeah, my hair was shoulder length when we last spoke."

"Hehe," said Zelos, grabbing Lloyd by his hair and completely oblivious to the pain that he was causing Lloyd. "He may seem a little depressed at first, but you'll see. A lot of me rubbed off on him."

"Ah, he's your friend master Zelos?" asked one of the girls.

"Yes, my best bud!" said Zelos fairly loudly and yanking on Lloyd's hair slightly more forcefully than he had to. "Well, we met about 10 years ago. Hehe, I was only 12 and he was only seven. Well, you can see how similar we are, can't you?"

"Um," said one of the nobles. She could obviously see that they weren't very similar at all. But she also didn't want to offend Zelos either. "Yeah. I see some similarities."

"Come on Lloyd," said Zelos in the same energetic way he had 10 years ago. "You can hang out with my hunnies and I!" Grabbing the back of Lloyd's head, he dragged Lloyd along, the girls and Noishe following behind.

* * *

"Ah, master Yuan, you're here." A lifeless angel approached Yuan in a slight bow pose. "Kratos is right this way." He turned and started flying foreword.

_Damn I hate it here,_ thought Yuan. _The smell of death, I don't know how Mithos handles it. Damn, I have to get out of here soon. Kratos isn't stupid; he has to know about Lloyd. But, then he may know about the renegades and my connection to them. If that happens, then I may have to completely activate Lloyd's exsphere and have him use their powers to change that. But, I shouldn't get ahead of myself. After all, Kratos owes me for that event several years ago._

"Lord Aurion!" said the angel, taking a very deep bow. "Lord Yuan is here!"

Yuan looked coolly across the room. Kratos was in his judgment uniform. Yuan hardly wore his Cruxis uniform; after all, he was hardly ever on Derris Kharlan. Kratos raised his left arm and swished it to the side, telling the angel to leave. The angel, eager to obey orders, left the room quickly. Yuan didn't like any of the angels; they were little suck ups that obeyed all orders in hope of getting a better job amongst the other angels. And all they would get absolutely nothing. But his thoughts went back to what he would say to Kratos when he realized that they were alone.

Kratos also looked like he was thinking of where to start as well. Knowing Kratos, he would try to keep his cool at first, but Yuan remembered how he had acted when it came to Kvar. If Yuan did turn out to be the leader of the renegades, then Kratos would probably try to harm him in some way. But Yuan was a Seraphim as well; he wouldn't go down without a fight.

Kratos finally started speaking as he walked foreword. "If what I think is right, then you know why you're here."

"And if I'm not?" asked Yuan. _Let's toy with his mind for a bit._

"Then this is a complete waste of time," said Kratos coolly.

"So then, why would you call me here if you didn't know exactly the truth?" asked Yuan in a fairly taunting way.

"Because I have some evidence," said Kratos, folding his arms. "I just need a confession."

_Damn it,_ thought Yuan. "And if I have no confession to give, then that evidence is useless, is it not?"

"Not necessarily," said Kratos, giving a slight shake of the head. "But we are not here to discuss what can and cannot happen without a confession. I called you here to discuss the renegades."

"Ah, yes, the renegades," said Yuan, almost sounding bored.

"All members of Cruxis know about them," said Kratos, who seemed to think he was almost getting somewhere. "They attempt to kill the chosen while they are on the journey. And recently, they have discouraged Tethe'alla's chosen from starting his journey. And they disguise themselves as Desians. We know several of their names such as Botta, however, we don't know the name of their leader."

"Why must I be here?" asked Yuan, sounding annoyed. "All you are doing is reviewing the facts of the renegades, which you could do with Mithos, who is already here and would not object to hearing these facts again."

Suddenly, Yuan heard a loud, smashing noise. Turning around, he saw that the bars had fallen across the door, making it impossible to get out. Turning again, he saw Kratos, his sword unsheathed. "Because I have reason to believe that the leader of the renegades is in this very room," he said coolly. "And he is standing right in front of me."

* * *

Me: Muhahaha! Cliffhangers are my ultimate weapon.

Presea: So I come next chapter?

Me: Yes! The warrior in pigtails will make her entrance next chapter!

Presea: Warrior in pigtails?

Me: Hey! That should be a title! (Pulls out title box)

Presea earned the title of "Warrior in Pigtails".

Me: Hehe, please review and don't stick your finger in an electrical outlet good little children!


	12. Revelation

Me: NO! Zelos, not the electrical outlet!

Zelos: But it's so pretty…

Lloyd: Damn it Zelos, you're not supposed to do that! Me said not to!

Me: Damn reverse psychology! Zelos put your finger in that electrical outlet!

Zelos: Huh? I don't want to put my finger there anymore…

Me: Hehe, reverse psychology! Ready…? BEGIN!_ Note: For some retarded reason, I can't insert lines, so it may be hard to read. We apologize for any problems._

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Chapter 12: Revelation

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"Now, now, my hunnies, there's plenty of me to go around."

Lloyd glanced slightly over at Zelos and his gang of fan girls. He seemed to be having fun. He glanced back down at the park bench that he was sitting on. Noishe's nose nosed Lloyd's shoulder slightly, but Lloyd ignored him.

Zelos had changed a lot in the years. Well, it wasn't so much as a surprise. After all, Zelos had flirted with Sheena when she was 11. But, Lloyd had expected maybe one girlfriend or two, not a whole crowd of them. Lloyd didn't have too much experience with girls. They had been one woman with the renegades, but that had been when he was 13 and she had been 29 and had been married.

"Hey, Lloyd," said Zelos, attempting to get to Lloyd, but his fan girls had a tight hold of his clothes and were attempting to hold him back. "Come on, you're still young, you need to see Meltokio. My hunnies and I'll give you the personal tour!" Using all his strength, he managed to release himself from the rabid girls and over to Lloyd. "Come on Lloyd, you're my bud!" He grabbed Lloyd's hand and dragged him along like he had 11 years ago in that forest.

_Well, I guess that if I do journey about the city,_ thought Lloyd as Zelos dragged him along. _Then it is possible that I'll run into the chosen. But still, she could be anywhere in Tethe'alla at the moment. With Mizuho's information network, perhaps it would have been better if I had headed there first. And with the grand Tethe'alla Bridge being so long, well, it may not be useful at all. Damn it, why did I leave my rheihard behind?_ Zelos' voice hardly reached Lloyd's ears; he was so lost in thought.

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"Hey guys," Sheena stood still outside of the main gate. "I'm going to have to leave you here because I need to report my failure to the chief."

Genis turned. "Failure?"

"Yeah," said Sheena reaching into her pockets, looking for something. "I was supposed to kill Colette, remember?"

"Oh, yes," said Raine looking at the soulless Colette sadly. So much had happened in the past hour or so. The man named Botta had told them about the renegades, a secret organization that disguised themselves as Desians and attempted to stop Martel's resurrection. He claimed that the boy named Lloyd had been nothing more than a mercenary they hired. Recently, Lloyd had left them. And also, the leader of the renegades hadn't been there at the time. Botta's story was extremely hard to believe and Raine would have questioned him if he hadn't tried to take Colette. They had managed to run away and Sheena had led them to flying machines called rheihards. Raine, Genis, Colette, and Sheena had flown over to the world called Tethe'alla to cure Colette with exsphere technology.

However, things hadn't gone as they had expected. Because of how they had released the seals in Sylvarant, the mana in Tethe'alla had been depleting. So they had crash-landed in the Fooji Mountains instead. And Sheena had been forced to lead them to this city called Meltokio where the king of Tethe'alla lived.

"Ah, here it is," said Sheena whipping out a sheet of paper. It had her handwriting on it. "You'll have to visit the king of Tethe'alla and give him this. It'll tell him everything. I would, but I need to head back to Mizuho." She handed it to Raine, the nearest person. "You can't miss the castle, it's huge."

"Yes, thank you," said Raine, accepting the sheet of paper. Was it just her or was Sheena acting depressed lately? Well, with Sheena, you could never tell as she always hid her emotions. But when Raine had awakened in the renegade base, Sheena had made swift hand movements near her eyes, as if to wipe some thing away. And her eyes were slightly red, as if she had been crying. But Sheena would never tell her anything, which worried Raine. She stood there for a while, watching the girl walk away until she turned to join Genis and the lifeless Colette.

Genis gazed around at the huge city. He had never seen huge towns like this in Sylvarant. But because of how Tethe'alla was always receiving mana it was only to be expected. But for a few moments Genis forgot about the current world crisis and gazed at the wonders around him that he had never seen before. That is, until he heard a barking noise. He sharply averted his gaze from the city to where Colette stood, a dog at her feet, the source of the barking.

"Whoa!" said Genis, leaping back slightly in mild surprise. "Oh, that's right. Of coarse there are dogs in Tethe'alla. What was I thinking?"

Colette's cold, empty, red eyes looked at the dog with only hate inside them. With a swift movement, she kicked the dog out of her way.

"What the!" gasped Genis, shocked at what he had just seen. "Colette…and she used to love dogs too…"

"Colette," said Raine, whom looked sad all of a sudden. "We have to save her." Taking Genis' hand, she led him up the stairs ahead, the soulless Colette following.

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_How big is Meltokio?_ Wondered Lloyd as Zelos dragged him down the stairs from the castle. _It can't go on like this for too long. Eventually he'll run out of places to show me. It can't go on forever._ But Lloyd was beginning to doubt that highly.

"Hey, my hunnies and I should show the inside of the castle!" said Zelos enthusiastically.

"Um, master Zelos," said one of the nobles. "The chosen is only allowed to bring one other person into the castle, so we can't all enter."

"Oh, is that so?" asked Zelos, his voice sounding a little disappointed for the first time. "Well, then, my bud and I can go in alone. Don't worry my hunnies, we shall return!"

But as Zelos turned, he stopped suddenly, making Noishe let out a soft whine in surprise. Zelos, whom also appeared to be surprised, let go of Lloyd's sleeve. Lloyd used this opportunity to turn quickly and see the chosen of Sylvarant gazing at him with cruel, blood red eyes.

"Hey! Watch it!" shouted one of the girls, looking very disapproved.

"Watch where you're going!" shouted another one. They seemed to almost gang up on Colette to get on Zelos' good side.

Zelos turned around, a sly smile on his face. "Now, now, settle down my hunnies," he said, moving his hand up and down. "Hello, my cute little angel, how are you?" He turned to face the blonde, who merely stared at him.

Lloyd craned his head over the red head and the blonde to see the people behind her. Just as he suspected, Raine and Genis were with her. But what had happened to Sheena? Where was she? The raven-haired girl wasn't with them. But he soon stopped thinking about her when another of Zelos' groupies spoke up.

"Well, well, well, master Zelos has taken his time to talk to her and look how she acts!"

"Just look at her, its not even festival time and she's already dressed up as an angel!"

"Can you believe the nerve of this hag?"

"Hey!" shouted Genis, his hand in a fist. "What did you say?" He jumped slightly when he looked past them and saw Lloyd. "What are you doing?" he demanded, looking even angrier.

"Standing," said Lloyd, answering sarcastically to Genis as he usually did. "Breathing, wondering about the meaning of life, shall I go on?"

"You know what I mean!" shouted Genis.

"Um, do you know this guy?" asked Zelos, looking at Lloyd for a second.

"Yes," said Lloyd. "Unfortunately."

"Ah, please introduce me to the ladies then," said Zelos, his smile so huge that his eyes closed. "You know, I bet she's as cute as a button when she smiles!"

"Um, maybe you shouldn't get so close," said Lloyd, trying to warn Zelos that Colette may attack him, but to no avail. Zelos walked foreword anyway.

Colette reacted instantly. Reacting like lightning, she grabbed Zelos' arm and, using all her strength, throwing him aside like he weighed nothing at all. One of the fan girls let out a scream. "Ah! Master Zelos!"

But using amazing grace that he hadn't quite been seen with, Zelos landed on his feet. "Whoa!" he said, his eyes wide with surprise. But he looked normal in just a few seconds, his surprise blowing over. "Wow, you sure are strong. I didn't expect that. Now, then," he said moving closer to the group.

"Who are you?" demanded Genis.

"No offence," said Zelos, looking down at Genis. "I don't want to talk to men."

"Gr, I hate this guy already," complained Genis, sounding frustrated.

"Hehe, who are you pretty lady?" asked Zelos, facing Raine.

"Give me your name and I'll give you mine!" said Raine defensively.

"Where'd you get such a stupid catch phrase?" asked Lloyd. Truly, that had to be the dumbest thing he heard.

"Oh, so you don't know about me?" asked Zelos. He must have meant the fact that he was the chosen. "Well, I guess I'm not that famous yet."

The fan girls had had enough. They didn't want these new girls getting in the way. "Master Zelos, let's go!"

"Coming right now my hunnies and friend!" said Zelos, trying to say as much to Colette and Raine as he could. "My darling angel, my beautiful woman, oh, and the brat."

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Genis waited until the man had left them for the girls. "What an ass! He was grinning like an idiot the entire time. No wonder he's friends with that jerk!"

"He had an exsphere on him," whispered Raine.

"What?" shouted Genis, looking confused. "Just who is that guy anyway?"

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"Hehe, this is the castle Lloyd!" said Zelos, who had taken up dragging Lloyd once more.

"Master Zelos, you will return, right?" asked one of the girls, looking worried.

"Ah, never fear!" said Zelos, who had taken up grinning again. "Lloyd won't let me get lost! After all, we're much, much more than just friends!"

_Damn it Zelos,_ thought Lloyd, struggling not to glare. _Don't make them think like **that**_ _way!_

All of the girls looked shocked.

"We're best buddies!" shouted Zelos, pulling Lloyd inside. "I shall return!"

All of the girls waited for the doors to close. Finally, they turned to each other. "Oh, so it's not in **that** way," said one, almost sounding disappointed.

"I'm both relieved and disappointed," said another sadly.

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Meanwhile, on Derris Kharlan, Kratos had just released his suspicions. Yuan glanced about the room, while thinking about what he would have to do. Kratos' sword was unsheathed and ready to use.

"So, is that true?" he asked, his voice ringing with both rage and sorrow. "Is that true? Have you been betraying Cruxis this entire time? And…what have you done with Lloyd?"

"What are you going to do about it?" asked Yuan. The best thing he could do was avoid the subject of Lloyd completely.

"That all depends," said Kratos, who wouldn't be able to remain calm forever. "Answer my questions, don't avoid them like a coward!"

"Fine then," said Yuan. "But you remember that event 4,000 years ago?"

"Yes," said Kratos coolly.

"I'm using that vow now," said Yuan coolly as well.

"Wait, so you mean…" said Kratos, his eyes filling with rage slowly.

"Yes," said Yuan, his hand on his sword. "I am the leader of the renegades. I have been betraying Mithos all this time. And yes, I am the one who turned Lloyd against you like that."

"Why?" said Kratos whom despite his amazing self-control was sounding angry. "Why? Why didn't you return him to me? I trusted you and you have been putting me through hell for 17 years!"

"It's your own fault," said Yuan, who was also feeling angry. "If you really cared about Lloyd, you would have searched for him everywhere in that accursed forest! Instead you went back to Mithos! You're just angry because I have the strength to stand up against Mithos and you gave up! Admit it! The only reason you care about Lloyd is because he looks like Anna!"

Kratos froze, his face emotionally blank. Yuan froze as well. Perhaps he had gone a little too far. After all, Kratos cared about Lloyd more than just because of the fact that he resembled Anna, that accusation had been unjust. But Yuan knew that it was too late now to take it back. Kratos' faze suddenly unfroze.

Before Yuan could do anything, Kratos had grabbed his sword. The next movement seemed so fast that Yuan hardly saw it happen. Kratos thrust his sword suddenly towards Yuan. But as Yuan was a seraph as well, he gracefully dodged Kratos' attack. A sound of metal clashing against metal very loudly met Kratos' sword. His sword had made contact with the barred door. The metal had become twisted and bent because of Kratos' inhuman strength.

A long silence followed afterward. Kratos seemed to still be angry, but he didn't have that white hot rage in his eyes anymore. But he didn't seem to want to remove his sword either. Suddenly, Mithos' voice broke the silence.

_Kratos! Yuan! The chosen has escaped to Tethe'alla. We need to bring her back!_

Another silence followed afterward. Neither would move nor talk. Finally after many minutes that felt like hours, Kratos removed his sword from the door. The bars were useless now.

Yuan walked over to the door, not making eye contact. As he opened the door, he said loudly "Remember the Vow!"

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Me: Muhahahahahaha!

Zelos: Oh boy! What vow?

Me: Muhahaha, like I'd tell you!

Sheena: Finally, this chapter's here.

Yuan: I thought it'd never get online.

Presea: I didn't come in.

Me: You almost came in!

Raine: But isn't there an announcement you have to make?

Me: Ah yes. Coming September, updates will get in whenever I have the time. Because I'M STARTING HIGHSCHOOL!

Sheena: Yes, and we already know that her teachers will be evil!

Me: OH MY GOD! I'M STARTING HIGH SCHOOL! HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT!

Yuan: Achem. _Hits Me across the head with the back of Kratos' sword._

Me: Ugh…. High school…_Collapses against Sheena._

Zelos: Hehe, freshmen. They always freak out before high school.

Yuan: Yes, we all agree that freshmen are funny. Okay, please review and Me will try to update as soon as she wakes up.


	13. New Allies

Me: Muhahahahahaha! The number 13!

Zelos: You really like this story, don't you?

Me: Well, it's definitely my most popular…

Sheena: And you can write it even though schools ahead…

Me: Don't remind me… I've blissfully forgotten for a bit.

Yuan: …You're hopeless. Ready…? BEGIN!

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Chapter 13: New Allies

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Lloyd was beginning to see the advantages of being a chosen. Zelos literally could go anywhere in the castle. And he could get away with nearly anything. Lloyd envied that type of freedom.

"And then this is the place where the Papal knights armor up!" said Zelos who had taken it up as his manifest destiny to make sure Lloyd knew everything and anything about the castle of Tethe'alla. "I really think that they're boring. Let's move on!"

_He can't go on forever, he can't go on forever, he can't go on forever, _Lloyd reminded himself over and over again. But even he was beginning to doubt that and killing Zelos was beginning to seem like a good idea. And besides, Colette was in Meltokio; he had to catch up to her. But he hadn't seen Zelos for a while as well.

"Master Zelos!"

The servant's voice stopped Zelos in his crazy conquest of the castle.

"Master Zelos," said the butler panting and running towards the two youths. "The king and the pope request a meeting with you!"

_Wow, Zelos is really big,_ thought Lloyd. _Both the king and the pope need him._

"Hm?" Zelos. "Well, I guess that I'm not popular again." He started off in a different direction.

_Not popular again?_ Wondered Lloyd. _What does that mean? I better follow him._ Lloyd followed behind Zelos to the throne room.

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Meanwhile, Genis, Raine, and Colette had just seen a strange pink haired girl exit the temple of Martel. Because they had heard that she was heading into the castle, they chose to follow her in the case that she would help them. But instead they saw her talking to a strange man with brown hair. Quickly, they leapt behind a wall and listened.

"Once you finish your job, you can return to Ozette," said the man.

"…Understood," replied the girl.

"The plan is right on schedule," said the man. "Presea, I am under order of Rodyle to tell you this. Cruxis is searching for a boy. Rodyle didn't tell me his name, but he has long, brown hair, hazel eyes, and carries two swords. If you see him, Rodyle has ordered you to get a vial of his blood. It should be enough to undergo some tests."

"…I understand," said Presea. The fat man nodded.

"He's in trouble with Cruxis again," he said, his several chins shaking. "Well, if he can give then this blood, then he'll be good to go." After another nod, he backed away from Presea. Genis waited for her to enter the castle, then came out from the wall.

"Presea!" he said loudly to merely attract her attention. Seeing that she stopped, he spoke again. "Hey, um, can we help you?"

_Genis, that won't convince her,_ thought Raine. "Please, we need to get in."

Presea ignored them. She grabbed the log and began dragging it once more. "Please Presea," said Raine, desperate to get this plan to work. "There may be more than one life at stake! We really need to get in."

Presea froze once again. Raine grew worried. _What if she doesn't let us? How will we get to the king and deliver Sheena's letter?_

But Raine had no need to worry, for Presea said simply, "Understood." She left the log half way up the stairs. "Please, carry that."

"O-Okay," said Genis, eagerly. _Who am I kidding? I can't lift this by myself!_ But he was in luck, as Colette moved over to the log as well. Seeing that Genis couldn't lift it, the soulless angel grabbed the log as well. She easily dragged it behind Presea. _Colette,_ thought Genis. _We need to save her soon!_ He followed the two soulless girls inside with Raine behind him, now with more determination to save Colette than ever.

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Zelos didn't object to Lloyd following him. If anything, he was grateful for the company. "It's the pope," he explained. "And the king is probably pissed as well. Anyway, they're all pissed really because I haven't started my journey yet. Hell, after Yuan told me what would happen at the end, well, I wouldn't start the journey no matter what."

"Maybe you should pretend to go on the journey," said Lloyd who wasn't sure he liked this more serious side to Zelos. He vaguely remembered that time after he had first met Sheena. That time, Zelos had told him that life was full of sacrifices and that without sacrifices; there would be no life. He did have a point and Lloyd himself was obsessed with death, but deep inside of Lloyd was a part of him that he had not discovered yet. That part of him had nearly been killed long ago. But it still existed despite Lloyd not knowing. That part of him believed that all things were born with a right to exist and none had the right to take that away from them.

"Well, that might work at first," Zelos explained. "But what would people do when after several years, the tower of salvation disappears?"

"It would happen anyway," said Lloyd, gripping the stair railing tighter. "At least, eventually. I mean, Sylvarant can't stay in decline forever. Eventually, Tethe'alla and Sylvarant would reverse."

"Maybe," said Zelos his eyes darkening. "But then why even pretend to start? It would all be useless. Every time we regenerate the world, we face new danger of going into decline. And there's something I wanted to ask you. You were in Sylvarant before right? What was it like there?"

"Very different," said Lloyd. "To start it off, they're just learning about steam works there." Zelos' eyes widened with surprise and even fear, but Lloyd continued. "The biggest organization there is the renegades." Zelos flinched, but insisted that Lloyd continue. "One of the most important cities, Luin, was recently destroyed by the Desians."

Zelos nearly collapsed against the railing. He was panting faintly. "How did Sheena learn to live there? Oh, and did you see Sheena?"

"Yeah," said Lloyd, a hint of sadness in his eyes. "We took down the human ranch together."

"Sweet!" said Zelos who was trying to move the images of Sylvarant out of his head. "Hehe, you have such a chance with her! I mean look, first off, you met when you were kids and now you have taken down a place with her."

"Yeah, about that," said Lloyd looking away from Zelos' eyes. "Things are getting pretty dangerous with Yuan. And this isn't just the depressing danger. This is the danger of getting hunted by Cruxis. So, I would kind of appreciate it if Sheena remained in the dark about this."

"Oh," said Zelos with only a hint of disappointment. "Well, I guess that if you have to be the dramatic hero, I could keep a secret. I mean, it's your lose."

"Thanks," said Lloyd. After all, Cruxis already hunted Zelos. What harm could him knowing be? And Cruxis was only after Colette; despite the fact that Sheena was traveling with them, she should be mildly safe from their attacks.

"Well, anyway," said Zelos who seemed to prefer to talk about happier things. "This is the king's place. Anyway, don't be surprised if they say anything about me. And by that, I mean not the chosen's praise, I mean that I'm an arrogant son of a bitch stuff."

"It isn't anything that I haven't heard before," said Lloyd.

"Wow, is life with Yuan getting that dangerous?" asked Zelos.

"You could consider it that," said Lloyd quietly following Zelos through the door.

The room inside truly was meant for a king. The carpet showed that it had been cleaned many times and the walls were also fancy. The bed in the center obviously had many mattresses and looked pretty comfortable. Lloyd recognized the fat man with the brown moustache as the pope and the man with the moustache and the beard who looked slightly sickly as the king of Tethe'alla. Zelos spoke suddenly. "So what is it this time?"

The pope looked at Lloyd with disgust. Lloyd didn't blame him, as he looked shaggier than usual. But he looked back at the pope with a glare so full of anger that the pope backed down. "Zelos, what do you think it is?" he demanded, anger ringing in every part of his voice. "You haven't even begun planning for your journey!"

"Well, what harm is there?" asked Zelos coolly. "After all, it's not like the tower of Salvation will disappear."

"It just might," said the pope. "Sylvarant's chosen might just regenerate their world!"

Lloyd had only heard a little of the pope, but he already knew that he just wanted Zelos away from Meltokio. The chosen probably was in his way of controlling the king or something. Men like him seriously pissed Lloyd off.

"Well, then I can always start my journey after that, can't I?" asked Zelos.

"No!" shouted the pope. "Then we'll have to wait thousands of years! Just think of what you would have done to the people of Tethe'alla!"

"He did?" said Lloyd who was seriously pissed. Zelos noticed that his eyes seemed to flicker yellow. "What about the chosen of Sylvarant? After all, she was the one whom would have sent Tethe'alla into decline. And what about you? Why is it always the chosen? Why isn't it the lazy bastards like you who can't get off their ass just to save their world?"

"How dare you speak to the pope like that?" said the king angrily.

"Simple," said Lloyd coolly. "Martel is nothing more than a figment of your imagination. And because I know that she doesn't exist makes it all the more easier to call the man who teaches this nonsense to all the brain dead asses who are dumb enough to listen."

"Martel will send you to hell," said the pope coolly.

"Oh really?" said Lloyd who grabbed the collar of the pope. "Is that what you think? If Martel exists, how come our worlds are like this? How come there are people dying every day? How come the pope's an ass? And how come he can't even watch his own d," he was about to say "daughter" but stopped as the door opened. There stood the chosen of Sylvarant, Genis, Raine, and a girl with pink pigtails.

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"Lloyd, that was awesome standing up to the pope like that," said Zelos. He and Lloyd had been banished to the hall while the king and the pope debated what to do. "And is that girl really the chosen of Sylvarant?"

"Yes," said Lloyd who had taken a liking to focusing on the white ceiling. "When she finished the journey of regeneration, she lost her soul and she's been like that ever since."

"I see," said Zelos putting his arms around his knees. "Geez, I don't think I want to start the angel transformation."

"Believe me, it's no fun," said Lloyd flinching just remembering it. "Shit, I was so bored all those sleepless nights when everyone else was awake. And it was so weird stabbing myself and feeling nothing."

"You have wings?" asked Zelos.

"Yeah," said Lloyd, letting out his wings. He felt relief wash over him, as he hadn't let his wings stretch for ages.

"Hehe, wings look like fun," said Zelos as Lloyd moved his wings back and forth. "But honestly, not eating and all isn't cool."

"Yeah," said Lloyd, his turquoise wings feeling freer than they ever had before. But when he heard the door open, he shoved them away again. The king and the pope had obviously made a decision.

"Hey, what are you doing?" asked Zelos, eagerly.

"I doesn't matter to you," said the pope who had an air of pompousness around him. He strutted away from Lloyd and Zelos.

"Well, well, well," said Zelos coolly. "Just because they won't let me in doesn't mean that I'll be in the dark." He dashed after them , Lloyd following behind him.

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Raine looked over sadly at Genis, who seemed to be too full of worries. "What about Presea? We can't let her die if we are. It's not her fault."

"Don't worry," said Raine, clutching her hands together. "I'll find some way." But truly, Raine didn't know what she would do. And, if Tethe'alla truly was as advanced as it were, could they discover that they were half elves? What would happen then?

The door opened. Genis froze, cold sweat falling down his neck. His eyes were wide and horrified and every muscle in his body was tense.

In walked the fat man with the moustache, the man named Zelos, and Lloyd. Along with them were several knights with green and white armor. They had axes and their faces were hidden by helmets.

"Get her," ordered the pope. "Do it for Tethe'alla."

"Colette!" shouted Genis, starting to run over as the knights surrounded her. But he didn't have a reason to worry as Colette raised both her arms and swung. Despite her small size, she had amazing strength because of her angel skills. At the simple touch of her hand, the knights were thrown into the walls.

"Damn," whispered the man. "She's untouchable."

"Hear me out," said Raine standing up. Seeing Genis so worried had given her strength that she didn't have before. "Colette ended up like this because she completed the regeneration journey. If we manage to heal her, then she'll be unable to save Sylvarant, thus saving Tethe'alla."

"Tethe'alla will be saved," murmured Zelos.

"Wait," said the brown haired man. "How do we know you won't escape back to Sylvarant?"

"Oh just relax," said Zelos. "If you're so paranoid, then Lloyd and I will go with them. We'll keep tabs on them and make sure they don't head back to Sylvarant."

"I don't know," said the man, but Lloyd walked up to him.

"_It'll get rid of both of us,"_ he whispered. _"That's what you want, you little son of a bitch."_

"Fine then," said the man who after Lloyd's words realized what he would gain with Zelos and Lloyd gone. He now walked away with even more strut in his step.

"Well, then that's all good," said Zelos, who seemed to be relieved that he had found a new excuse to skip his journey just for a little bit more. "Hey, my bud and I will meet you in the church. Come Lloyd, we need to say farewell to my hunnies!"

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"Raine," said Genis quietly as they exited the castle. "I'm not sure about Lloyd. I mean, what if he attacks Colette again?"

"I don't know," said Raine quietly. "He seemed to hate Kratos more than Colette. And he wanted to stop the regeneration; so healing Colette will be one way for him to do that. And Sheena and that Zelos manage to be around him and not be hurt. At least, from what we know."

"Well, I don't think we can trust him," said Genis his hands twitching.

"We can't really trust anyone these days Genis," said Raine quietly as she opened the door to the church. "We need to be careful and not get into trouble."

Genis sighed. "I don't like it over here," he said quietly. "People in Tethe'alla just hate Colette because she was supposed to save Sylvarant. I wish they could give her a chance to make an impression."

"People over here are paranoid," said Raine who was getting quieter and quieter with each word. "They fear that they'll lose their mana to Sylvarant and have to adjust to a new way of life. We all fear change, just they fear it slightly more than us."

"Hey, everyone," said Zelos energetically. "Good, good, you're all here. So, let's introduce ourselves! I'm the great Zelos Wilder, the handsome hero that will eventually save Tethe'alla. This here is Lloyd Yggdrasill and he's my depressed friend. What about you?"

He didn't seem to notice that Raine and Genis looked as if Zelos had just said that in Tethe'alla, people ate air. _Yggdrasill?_ They both thought. _But he doesn't look like him. And he's obviously a human as well. Is he part of Cruxis? But then why would he try to stop Martel's revival?_

"Whoa, did I just offend you or something?" asked Zelos looking a little worried. "Is introducing yourself insulting in Sylvarant or something?"

"No," said Raine quietly. "I am Raine Sage and this is my younger brother Genis Sage."

"I see," said Zelos. "And the little angel is Colette and the younger girl is?"

"…Presea Combatir," said Presea, sounding dead. "…I'm from Ozette."

Lloyd looked at the younger girl. Was she like Colette? Did she have no soul as well? Looking into her blue eyes, he saw some of the sorrow that he felt everyday. Was he feeling sad for another human being?

But Zelos interrupted his thoughts. "Ozette, you mean that place out in the boondocks? Oh, I mean the forest! You poor thing, having to be around such a huge brat!"

"Shut up!" shouted Genis.

"Whoa, wait," said Zelos who was calmer now. "Let's all cool down. Okay, we're all traveling, so let's try to be almost like friends."

"I think that may be the best choice for us in the current situation," said Raine calmly.

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Me: Whew, I'm tired. And this isn't a Preloyd, it's simply Lloyd and Presea brotherly affection as they both have missing parents. For the Fruits Basket fans, it's like Haru and Kisa, they may hug but we all know that Haru will be with Rin and Kisa will be with Hiro in the end.

Yuan: So will Lloyd be with them for a bit?

Me: Well, he is the renegade spy…

Sheen: Well, please review. And know this, bulldozers are not toys!


	14. Traitor

Me: ZELOS!

Zelos: Oh, Me! What a surprise!

Me: Really? And what happens to be behind you?

Zelos: Ho hum, nothing.

Me: Show me what you're hiding, or so help me, I'll make you sit in the chocolate pudding chair! The stains will never get out of your clothes!

Zelos: Okay, okay, here. _Backs away._

Me: HA! I knew it! A bulldozer!

Zelos: NO! ME'S AFTER ME!

Me: Sigh; there is use of the dreaded f word in this chapter. Ready…? BEGIN!

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Chapter 14: Traitor

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_I was right,_ thought Genis who was walking behind Presea. He hadn't let his eyes stray from Lloyd or Noishe. At the moment, they were walking along the grand Tethe'alla bridge. _Noishe went along with him. What's with him anyway? Why does Noishe trust him so much when he hardly knows him? And after what Lloyd did to Kratos and Colette, you'd think that Noishe would sense something about him that would make him avoid Lloyd._

_Damn this bridge is long,_ thought Lloyd who was completely oblivious to Genis. _I thought that Tethe'alla was the flourishing world too. You'd think they could make it easier to walk across a bridge too. Hm, Sybak is where we're headed now. Yuan and I stopped they before heading to the mountains. Wasn't it that university town? I better report to Yuan tonight._

_At least we didn't get blood tests,_ thought Raine who held the rear. _If we had, then they would have found out the truth. And if that had happened then we would probably be in jail now and Colette would be dead. We can't keep this secret forever; eventually it'll get out. And what will happen then? What will we sacrifice?_

"Okay!" said Zelos suddenly. "This is getting a little boring. Let's come up with nicknames!"

"…Nicknames?" said Presea who sounded empty and mechanical.

"Of coarse!" said Zelos happily. "You may call me dear!"

"Oh great," said Genis annoyed.

"Well, actually, I guess that Lloyd can call me his bud," said Zelos yanking on Lloyd's ponytail slightly. "And Genis can call me his superior!"

"Yeah right," said Genis in an annoying voice.

"Let's see, Presea is little one," said Zelos with hearts in his eyes. "Colette is little angel!" The hearts vanished from his eyes but his eyes still had happiness in them. "Lloyd is mini me!"

Genis let out a small snicker but stopped at his nickname. "And Genis is brat," said Zelos with a lot less sparkle in his eyes.

Genis sighed. "I bet it took you a long time to get that one," he groaned sarcastically.

"And Raine?" asked Lloyd after a series that almost looked like small smiles.

"Oh, Ultra Glamorous Ultra Cool Beauty!" said Zelos the hearts back in his eyes.

"Isn't that a little too long?" asked Raine.

"Okay!" said Zelos happily the hearts not fading. "U.G.U.C.B. for short then!"

"That's not very practical," said Genis who looked bored now.

"Hm, then what should it be?" asked Zelos who almost sounded disappointed.

"How about simply the professor?" asked Raine. "In Iselia, I was a school teacher."

"Hm, that works," said Zelos who seemed happier now that he had a nickname for Raine. "You can be my professor of love!"

The rest of the group with souls sighed.

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"_Lloyd, is everything going according to plan? Over."_ Yuan had called him later that night. Lloyd had managed to escape to the coast.

"Yeah. I'm with the chosen of Sylvarant. Over," answered Lloyd into the mouthpiece.

"_Excellent,"_ said Yuan's voice. _We've already set a trap at the Fooji Mountains. If you can lure them there, then we can set a trap for them. Then, we may be able to free the chosen. Over!"_

"I understand," said Lloyd. "Over!"

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"Presea, is something wrong?" asked Lloyd. She seemed to freeze before entering Sybak.

"…I…don't like this….town," said Presea quietly.

"Don't worry Presea," said Genis happily. "We'll get out of here soon!"

"…I…hope so," said Presea quietly.

"Where exactly are we going?" asked Zelos.

"We need to head to the research academy," explained Raine. "Hopefully they will help Colette."

"Yeah," said Genis walking foreword. "Come on, we have to save Colette!"

"Relax," said Zelos coolly. "The research building is huge. There's no way you can miss it. It's just on the other side of the city."

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Meanwhile, miles above them, was Derris Kharlan, the land of the angels. There was also the city Welgaia, where Yggdrasill the leader of Cruxis happened to be at the moment. Angels moved soullessly aside for their leader to move. He had been coming down here everyday now. People were saying it was about someone named Lloyd that caused him to come here so much.

But it seemed that what he wanted was never there. Most of the time, he simply flew away again. But most of the angels knew that something different would happen today. And they were right as Yggdrasill suddenly turned towards one of the angels. "Why hasn't the blood sample come in yet?" he demanded his voice still cool and controlled despite the obvious rage shaking in it.

"I am sorry my Lord," said the angel who despite his soulless condition, still sounded afraid. "We have scouts in both Tethe'alla and Sylvarant. Also, we have recruited the civilians of Sylvarant and we'll recruit the citizens of Tethe'alla as well soon. Lloyd will get caught eventually and we'll be able to take a sample of his blood and test it as well."

"All you can say is eventually," said Yggdrasill angrily. "Why can't you have anything now? Why can't you have any sightings of Lloyd now?"

"I'm sorry my Lord," said the angel quietly.

"I have no need for a useless soul like you!" shouted Yggdrasill suddenly. He aimed his hand towards the angel bowing before him. A beam of light shot out of his palm, going straight for the angel. As soon as it touched the angel, the angel's mana shot out, exploding everywhere. The angel collapsed, obviously dead. Yggdrasil turned, fuming back to his castle.

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"So the Cruxis crystal is an evolved form of a exsphere?" asked Genis. "So then a key crest will fix it all?"

"Genis, remember what Dirk kept on telling you?" asked Raine. "Key crest are dwarven technology. Unless someone here knows how to make one, then it's hopeless."

"But Colette…" said Genis looking at the girl sadly.

"I can do it."

Genis turned violently. "What?" he demanded.

Lloyd didn't know what made him say that. He could make it, there had been a dwarf with the renegades, but why would he? After all, he despised Colette. But maybe it was because of Zelos. Zelos suffered wrongly because he was the chosen. Chosen's sole purpose in life was to die. Maybe he saw some of that unfairness in Colette, the soulless girl standing before him. Or maybe he felt guilty for not stopping her sooner, before this happened. But whatever the reason was, he just wanted to free the girl's soul.

"When I was with the mercenaries," he said quickly. "There was a dwarf there. While I can't do all of the dwarven techniques, I can make a key crest."

"How can we trust you?" demanded Genis. "How do we know that you won't just attack Colette again?"

"How do you know I will?" asked Lloyd. "And would you rather attempt to find a dwarf, a dying race, to make a key crest instead? By the time that we get there, the chosen may have no soul."

"What?" said Zelos loudly. "I may have no soul?"

"No," said Lloyd calmly closing his eyes and looking at the floor. "The girl may have no soul by then."

"It seems we have no choice," said Raine shaking her head.

"Fine," said Lloyd who had a tint of anger in his voice. "We first need to find inhibitor ore! It's required for making the key crest. Is there some junk shop around here?"

"Why a junk shop?" demanded Genis.

"Because only shit is found at a junk shop," said Lloyd leaning against the wall. "The only stuff there is unwanted things, most likely the owner doesn't even know what they are. If they knew what inhibitor ore is, then they'll most likely price it at such a high price that no one can afford it. At least at a junk shop, they'll think it's not worth anything."

"How'd you figure that out?" demanded Genis. "The last time we visited a city, you didn't know what a shop was!"

"It has junk in the name," said Lloyd coolly. "And it's a shop. How long did it take you to figure that out?"

"Hm, a junk shop," said Raine quickly, wanting to break up the quarrel. "I thought I saw a shop like that outside of the library. And there was some small red thing there."

"That sounds like a good lead," said Zelos happily. "Okay you two, while your fighting may be entertaining, I think that we should move on."

"Fine then," said Lloyd coolly stroking Noishe. Genis let out a small growl.

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Oh my!" shouted Raine. Lloyd and Zelos looked confused while Genis started sweating and Presea and Colette were simply unaffected. "This is a very valuable vase!"

"Hm?" said Lloyd confused and having no idea on how Raine was obsessed with ruins.

"Oh and look at how it's in such perfect condition!" said Raine moving her fingers across the runes on the sides. "These are so rare!"

"That's nice woman," said the salesman annoyed. "100,000,00 gald."

"What the hell?" said Lloyd suddenly.

"Take it or leave it," said the salesman who was unafraid of Lloyd's anger.

"Um, what is this?" asked Raine who had set the vase down quickly and had grabbed a red ore.

"That junk?" said the salesman. "500,000 gald."

"_How the hell did he know?"_ asked Lloyd. _"That's inhibitor ore!"_

"Inhibitor ore?" asked Zelos. "Hehe, see the chosen work his magic!" Zelos walked up next to Raine. "How dare you betray Martel?" he demanded in a mock angry voice. 

"What?" asked the salesman who looked worried now.

"That stone holds the key to regeneration Tethe'alla!" shouted Zelos pointing at the ore. "Do you deny the chosen that ability?"

"The chosen?" said the salesman, who looked scared. "Here! Take it!" He ripped the ore out of Raine's hands and thrust it into Zelos'. "Have a good journey!"

"Zelos, that was amazing," said Raine as they walked away. "Do they do that for you all the time?"

"Yes!" said Zelos cheerily. "Hey, I just tell 'em that I'm the chosen and they cough up anything I want!"

"So I guess the position of chosen isn't all that bad…" said Lloyd quietly.

"Well duh," said Genis. "You get all sorts of free stuff!"

"So you're saying that it's okay to die," said Lloyd coolly. "So long that you get free stuff?"

"No!" said Genis angrily. "I'm just saying that the chosen's job isn't about just dying!"

"Whatever," said Lloyd angrily. "Most are just going to die in the end. It really doesn't matter."

_What should I do?_ Wondered Lloyd. He was alone in the room and was supposed to make a key crest, but instead he was contemplating. _She's caused so much trouble. And if I save her, then she may just continue to cause more suffering. Would it be better to try to kill her? _

Lloyd pictured the soulless girl in his mind. Her eyes were so empty and red. Blood red, just like that time. That time he had attacked her and Kratos. He had attacked her simply because she had been in his way. He sighed. _I guess I owe her an apology,_ he thought as he started carving the rune onto the stone.

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"Here chosen," said Lloyd facing the girl. _I'm sorry,_ he thought. _I'm really sorry._

"Could you stop calling her chosen?" said Genis angrily. "She has a name! It's Colette! C-O-L-E-T-T-E! Not chosen, Colette!"

"Whatever," said Lloyd lifting her cruxis crystal up and placing the rune under it. They sat there for several minutes. Absolutely nothing happened.

"Did you do it right?" demanded Genis. "Did you screw up on purpose?"

"Shut the hell up!" shouted Lloyd. "Just shut the hell up! Do you have to comment on everything I do?"

"What can we do now?" asked Raine. "If only a dwarf can make it, then we may have to head back to Sylvarant."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," said Zelos startled now. "Didn't you hear the pope? We can't go to Sylvarant!"

"But, but," said Raine who was pretending to start crying. "What will become of Colette if she's like this? Will she be like this forever?"

"Oh," said Zelos.

"Please," said Raine looking at him with pleading eyes. "Please, if you value her life, please make this one sacrifice."

"Well, okay then," said Zelos coolly. Raine stopped pretending to cry and straightened up. But suddenly, a rough voice echoed throughout the room.

"As expected!"

"What the hell?" said Lloyd loudly as the Papul knights appeared around them.

"You didn't expect us, did you?" demanded the leader in golden armor. "But you are being arrested for charges against the pope!"

"Oh I see," said Zelos coolly. "Then the pope had you follow us around until I did something wrong."

"Ow! Dammit!" Lloyd had leapt back from the needle. "What the hell was that for?"

"It's to check for half elves," explained Zelos. "Sometimes, they look so much like humans and elves that they get away with crimes."

No one noticed Presea walking quietly behind the knight that had Lloyd's blood sample. While he wasn't looking, she grabbed it and quietly slipped it into her pocket for Rodyle.

"B-boss!" shouted one of the knights beside Raine and Genis. "We found a match!"

Lloyd was surprised by Zelos' reaction. He looked surprised. "Raine said she was an elf!"

"Wait, you thought they were elves?" asked Lloyd.

Genis flinched. Lloyd knew that he was a half elf all this time? Then had it been discrimination all those times they had fought?

But Genis soon realized that wasn't the reason, for Lloyd stepped foreword and said in a loud and clear voice "Let them go!"

"What?" demanded one of the knights.

"Let them go dammit," said Lloyd his eyes flashing yellow for brief periods. "Bastards like you piss me off to no end. So what if they're half elves? They have human blood too!"

"Lloyd," said Zelos quietly. "I don't know what it's like with you, but over here half elves are killed when they commit a crime, no questions asked." In an even quieter voice he whispered _"Remember Yuan?"_

Lloyd suddenly realized how similar both scenes were. That memory of when he was nine was so similar it was scary. The Papul knights were on both sides and were ready to kill him. And it was for the same reason as well; because half elves simply existed.

"Damn it," said Lloyd angrily. "What the fuck is the difference? What is wrong with them? They're blood's just different and they live longer, what difference in hell does that make?"

All but Presea and Colette looked extremely surprised at this side of Lloyd. Genis was the one who looked the most surprised. He had thought that Lloyd hated him, but here he was, defending his race despite the fact that he was a human. Lloyd had acted like an ass, but now he was trying to free his sister and him.

"Damn it," whispered one of the knights aiming his axe at Lloyd. "Do you wish to join the half breeds?"

"_Lloyd, you have to know when to give up,"_ whispered Zelos getting a hold of Lloyd's shoulder. _"Otherwise you'll end up dead." _Slowly, he pulled Lloyd back alongside Presea and Colette. Lloyd just let himself be dragged. He didn't know what made him give up, what made him simply watch as Genis and Raine were taken away by the knights, what made him let the knights lead him and the others into the basement, he would never know.

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"Wh-who are you?"

Lloyd looked sourly at the intelligent looking green haired lady who seemed to have a habit of reaching for her glasses. The knights to be later taken to the king and the pope had locked them in the basement.

For the first time ever, Presea had some reaction on her face at the sight of the woman. The woman also showed recognition. However, she chose not to say anything about Presea at the moment. "If you had the blessing of being born human, then why did you throw it away? Since I'm a half elf, I can't leave this place. Why do you humans not appreciate your blood?"

"Oh will you stop that!" shouted Lloyd who was extremely annoyed at the fact that he had let the knights have their way. "I know that discrimination is wrong, but it doesn't matter if you're the target or not! What matters is if you're doing anything to stop it! So what if you're a half elf? There are plenty of people who have a disadvantage, but at least they try to overcome them! If you're born a half elf, then make the most of your life that you can!"

"Hey Lloyd," said Zelos who pulled Lloyd away from the woman. "What should we do about Raine and Genis? I mean, I can't just let one of my hunnies die."

"We need to get out of here!" said Lloyd angrily. "Genis may be a brat, but he doesn't deserve to die! Neither of them deserves to die just because they're half elves!"

"…You," whispered Presea in the middle of Lloyd's angry ranting. Lloyd calmed down immediately.

"Hm, do you know her?" asked Zelos.

"Yes," said the woman. "Presea was an experiment here. She's supposed to make a Cruxis crystal."

"What the!" shouted Lloyd suddenly angry again. "A exsphere can only develop into a Cruxis crystal if the host dies!"

"Okay then," said Zelos coolly unaware of Presea's fate. "Hey, green hair, how do we get out of here?"

"It's Kate," whispered the young half elf. "And how do I know these friends of yours are really half elves? How do I know that you're not lying to simply get out of this place?"

"_He's not from Tethe'alla,"_ came a female voice. Lloyd froze. Was that her? But where was she? He gazed across the walls, searching for any sign of Sheena. But before he could see anything, the woman appeared right behind him. Indeed, it was Sheena in her purple kimono standing behind him. "He comes from Sylvarant where discrimination isn't as strong as it is here."

"Sheena," said Lloyd quietly looking away from her.

"What?" said Kate surprised at the sight of Sheena. "…Okay…If you bring your half elf friends…then I'll set Presea free from her exsphere…"

"Are you serious?" demanded Lloyd.

"…Yes," replied Kate.

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Sheena couldn't help it anymore. She looked over at Lloyd's face. The features in his face were so similar to his… But he was an angel and angels were part of Cruxis. Lloyd had been trying to kill Colette; he couldn't have worked for Cruxis. Most likely, Lloyd was not a part of Cruxis.

But the angels had tried to turn Colette into Martel. And if he truly was an angel and a part of Cruxis, did that mean that he had been in the Tower of Salvation? Did that mean that his goal was to make Martel a new body, like the rest of the angels? Did that mean that he was her enemy? Sheena struggled to prevent the tears that were tearing at her eyelids.

"Damn Lloyd, do we need to run this fast?"

Zelos had no problem at first, but as they had continued running across the bridge, he had steadily gotten more and more tired. He stopped suddenly to pant and catch his breath.

"Yes!" Shouted Lloyd, who was ignoring Zelos' complaints. He continued to sprint ahead while shouting "If we're too late then there's no hope for them."

"Geez," panted Zelos starting to run again. "One minute he wants to kill everything and the next he's mister hero. Lloyd has more mood swings that a teenager in the middle of puberty."

Sheena, who usually was one to lead the group, seemed to be hanging back for mysterious reasons. Several times she looked over sadly at Lloyd and let out what might be a sigh. However, you could hardly ever tell what Sheena was thinking at all. She always hid her emotions like that and showed them only a few times.

"There they are!" shouted Lloyd pointing ahead of him. Indeed, the two half elves were ahead of them being led by the knights. However, as he ran forward, Zelos leapt and yanked his shoulder back. "Damn it!" shouted Lloyd attempting to get out of Zelos' grasp.

"Whoa! Wait!" Zelos shouted back pointing ahead of them. "Just look at the drawbridge!"

Sure enough, if Zelos hadn't pulled Lloyd back, he would be falling deep into the water below, most likely his death as well. The bridge was slowly going upwards. Still Lloyd struggled against Zelos' hold.

"Whoa, if we fall, there's no way we can survive," said Zelos pulling Lloyd back.

"And if we don't try, Raine and Genis will die!" shouted Lloyd escaping Zelos' grasp and running foreword.

"…Let us continue our pursuit…" said Presea quietly running after Sheena.

Zelos stood in his spot for a few moments. Finally, he murmured a "Damn" and ran after the others.

Lloyd was the first to leap off of the bridge, his hand reaching out towards the other side, folds of his clothes blowing with the wind. He thought he was going to reach it. He truly thought that it was possible. But he soon realized that he was sadly mistaken, for his hand completely missed the edge. His eyes widening, he fell down towards the ocean.

_Damn it!_ He thought. _What the hell am I supposed to do? Damn, I can't use my wings without my secret being discovered. And if I continue like this, then it's guaranteed that I'll die here. Damn!_

Lloyd was preparing to use his wings, but Sheena's shouting stopped him. "Undine help!"

_Undine?_ Wondered Lloyd. _Undine? Is she talking about the summon spirit of water? But she needs a pact!_

But just as Lloyd had thought that, a powerful force of water, so powerful that he had been sent upwards, hit him. Just as he had gotten used to the pain of the water, he had landed on the other side of the bridge, Colette flying down and Sheena, Zelos, and Presea beside him.

"…Saved by an unknown force…" was all that Presea said. Sheena opened her mouth, looking like she was about to speak, but was rudely cut off by one of the guards.

"Damn! They escaped!" he shouted.

Lloyd was already unsheathing his swords. His eyes were turning their battle yellow again. "…Let…them…go..!" he said, almost sounding Presea-like.

"Kill them," ordered the head knight.

"I take that as a no," said Zelos coolly pulling out his sword with grace.

"It's not like we have a choice," said Sheena whipping out her cards, determined not to lose the battle ahead.

"I see, then," said a knight. "You leave us no choice then…"

"Double lightning blade!" shouted Lloyd starting the battle by stabbing that very same knight in the side with both his swords. Two bolts of lightning fell from the sky right at the knight. Meanwhile, Sheena had started on the other knight.

"Serpent seal!" she shouted hitting the knight she was facing with several cards. Several shadows appeared out of the floor and surrounded the knight. Zelos was facing off against the third knight while this was going on.

"Light spear!" he shouted, slashing upwards in a circular motion. Presea and Colette joined him with attacks of their own.

The knight that Lloyd was facing was merely stunned and soon managed to raise himself off the ground. The first thing he did was reach for his axe, stretching his arm far from his body. But just as his fingers brushed across the metal, Lloyd's foot slammed into his arm, his evil laugh echoing in his ears.

"How does it feel?" he asked in that evil laugh. "How does being helpless feel? How does it feel, knowing that there's nothing you can do to stop me from killing you?"

"Damn it," whispered the knight who was still trying to strain his fingers.

"That's what I thought," laughed Lloyd. "You've always been at the top, you've always been the bully. Guess what? It's all over now!"

"Damn it!" shouted the knight who seemed to realize that he wouldn't be able to reach his axe. However, no human being ever gives up in the face of death. Always, humans will fight foe their lives, no matter how hopeless it seems. And that was what the knight did. Using his arms, he swung his arm into Lloyd's leg. Lloyd hadn't been suspecting an attack like that and was completely thrown off his feet. He fell against the floor, a few scrapes appearing on his face.

Lloyd's foe used this pause to his advantage. While Lloyd was raising himself up, he managed to grab his axe and prepare an attack for the boy. Lloyd, who was angrier than before now, gripped his swords tighter as he ran foreword, his throat letting out a low battle cry.

However, the enemy wouldn't be thrown off his feet this time. Instead, he swung his axe down near Lloyd who just barely managed to dodge. Then, while his foe attempted to pull his axe out of the ground, Lloyd sprinted around him. He leapt up into the air, slashing at the man's helmet.

The axe wielder flinched, but only for a moment. Soon, his axe was back in his hands and he watched Lloyd with his eyes sprint around him. Finally, when the boy seemed to slow down, he thrust his axe down with all his strength that he could muster. There was a cracking sound and Lloyd let out a shout that echoed around the area.

Sheena turned almost automatically. Even her opponent had stopped to see what was wrong. What she saw made her gasp loudly. What she saw was an axe in Lloyd's shoulder that was hard to see because the boy's blood was flying everywhere, almost making their vision of him blurry.

When some of the blood stopped flowing everywhere, Sheena could see something white and thin. When she looked closer, she noticed that some of Lloyd bone was showing. Her eyes widen and she let out another loud gasp.

Meanwhile, Lloyd was almost frozen in the position he had been in before the axe had been driven deep into his body. The blade still rested there, nearly reaching his shoulder blade, yet not quite there. His cheeks were cover with his own blood.

Finally, Lloyd reacted. "You bastard," he whispered, grabbing a hold of the handle. There were a few sounds of struggle, then finally, the blade was removed, more blood flying everywhere. The floor around the knight and Lloyd was stained with blood.

"Damn it kid," said the man coolly. "If you continue like that, then you'll ruin the bone."

"Shut the fuck up," said Lloyd, his bangs hiding his eyes that were on the verge of turning red. "What does it matter to you if my bone is ruined? What does it matter to you if I die right here? It doesn't matter to you at all." He thrust the axe aside. It clattered across the floor before resting at Sheena's feet.

"Whatever kid," replied the knight. "I can kill you without an axe!" Before Lloyd knew what was happening, the knight had grabbed his good arm and pulled him up, just as Lloyd had done to Genis so long ago. "I carry a knife, you know!"

"Yes," said Lloyd coolly. "Unfortunately, they can't beat my swords."

"What are you talking about?" demanded the knight. "You can't use your arm or you'll break it!"

"Hm?" said Lloyd coolly. "That would be a nice sacrifice for my life…"

"What are you?" the solider started to ask, but he suddenly stopped, his voice replaced by a gasping noise. His eyes widen as he attempted to get more air in his lungs. Then, all of a sudden, small drops of blood came out of his mouth. Sheena gasped again. Lloyd's arm was even bloodier than before. He had stabbed the knight through his armor and into one of his vital organs.

Soon, the adult's gasping stopped, his eyes slowly closing. A death rattle echoed throughout the bridge area. Lloyd didn't see what happened next. His eyes closed and he fell into darkness for a few minutes.

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_Lloyd? LLOYD!_

Lloyd's now hazel eyes snapped open in alarm. Sheena was looking into his face, her face filled with worry. When she saw Lloyd was awake, she smiled sadly. Almost immediately, the smile vanished. "Are…you okay?"

"Hm?" said Lloyd. He started to raise himself up, but Sheena stopped him.

"Your arm isn't well," she explained calmly. "Raine did it. She said that if we didn't break your arm it would take longer to heal."

Lloyd stared at her for a few minutes, then spoke up. "You mean…I'll be crippled…for a long time?"

"Sorry about it," she said sadly. Lloyd looked more disappointed at the fact that now he couldn't fight rather than the fact that his arm was broken.

Lloyd couldn't see too much, but he could hear a voice in the background.

"_Hm? Is he awake?" _That sounded like Raine.

"_I think so,"_ that was definitely Zelos.

"Okay then," Raine's voice had come near now. "Then, let us discuss our plans. First off, is everyone okay with us being half elves?"

"I'm from Mizuho, we aren't exactly mainstream either," replied Sheena.

"Well, I'm not exactly kosher with this," explained Zelos. "But hey, I'll go with it."

"…I just want to head home…" whispered Presea.

"Um, you saw me back there," said Lloyd speaking to the sky as he couldn't see anyone. "I'm just fine with half elves."

"Okay, now that that's out of the way," said Genis who sounded very relived. "What do we do next?"

Lloyd vaguely remembered Yuan's orders. "Relax," he said examining a very interestingly shaped cloud. "We should get the rheihards. Don't worry, I have a plan to carry them."

And thus begun many lies that Lloyd would tell the party.

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Me: Yawn. So late… But that's 20 pages! New record!

Sheena: Sigh, what type of school assigns homework over the weekend? Anyway, we have some questions:

Should there be a Zellette pairing?

Should there be a Gesea pairing?

Me: Please review! Oh, and Walmart's planning to take over the world!


	15. On The Brink of Death

Okay, I'm pretty sure that some of you out there were worried that I was just going to copy ToS. But in this chapter, I plan to break away from the original storyline slightly. We will see some major cannon events, however, we'll mostly be on Lloyd's journey alone. And yes, OCs will be making an appearance most likely, **BUT!!!** They will not take center stage and will not be paired with cannon characters.

Zelos: What about the other pairings?

Me: Oh, the results are in:

Yes to Zellete: 6

Yes to Gesea: 5

Yes to Prelos (yes, I did count these ones): 1

Yes to Gelette: 1

No to Zellete: 2

No to Gesea: 2

My choice: Slight hinting of Zellette and Gesea that if you blink you may miss, however, the main pairing is and will always be Sheloyd. Also since I am leaving the ToS storyline, there won't be really any room for these pairings. Ready…? BEGIN!!!

* * *

Chapter 15: On the Brink of Death

* * *

_What will happen tomorrow?_ Lloyd threw some of his bangs back as he looked at the night sky. _What will happen when I betray them? Will they think that it's some sort of petty mistake? Or will the thin thread of friendship that ties us break? And if we separate, how will Yuan be able to keep his eyes on the chosen?_

He leaned lazily against a tree, resting his broken arm on his stomach. Raine had done her best to bandage it, however, had been unable to do it professionally. The bandages were made of ripped strips of blankets and clothing.

He gazed over at the sleeping forms of his companions. Somehow, he had a feeling that they wouldn't be his companions for much longer. Ever since he had met them, he had lied about everything. And how would they react when they found out?

He sighed. His life's plan had been made before he could even remember. Yuan, Botta, and the other renegades had formed it carefully. It had been tweaked and perfected as he had been growing up. And now those plans, those plans that had been looked over and perfected like the formula to life, were being carried out by him, the vessel, the center of this maze of hate and secrets.

He grabbed at his wounded right arm, making a shot of pain flash for a second. He didn't care; he had to look at something. Slowly, he lifted up the bandages around his hand. As the cloth broke away from his inflamed, fleshy hand, pain shot again like electricity. Every time he felt that pain, his eyes closed as he flinched. Finally, he had reached the back of his palm. He felt suddenly relieved. His exsphere hadn't shattered, yet.

But his satisfaction would be short lived, for he immediately noticed something strange about his exsphere. He squinted. It was hard to see in the blue color, however, Lloyd saw at the bottom of the gem what appeared to be a black liquid, swirling around slowly. He blinked and realized that he could no longer see it. But as he reached for his discarded bandage, he noticed another thing different. His exsphere appeared to have grown since he had last looked at it. It was such a small difference that he almost didn't notice it. But as he traced the circumference of the stone, he noticed that it was indeed slightly bigger by a few centimeters. He shook himself; it had to be simply that it was late at night. He began bandaging his hand again; not noting how his key crest had grown much smaller as well.

* * *

Normally, days beginning like this day would be normal. Genis had started cooking with Zelos annoying him every chance he got. Colette and Presea sat away from everyone else, merely looking on at the commotion. Raine was looking over a book on artifacts and Sheena was looking through her cards. But Lloyd looked on with depressions rather than superior amusement.

He had never honestly thought that he would miss these people. Well, he had thought that he would miss Sheena and Zelos, but Raine had hardly made an impact on him, Genis had acted like a brat, Colette had enraged him at the ranch, and Presea never had so much as looked at him. Part of him knew that it was for the best, but the other part of him didn't want to leave them. That part of him wanted to be there to save Presea, it wanted to understand why Genis had acted like that, it wanted to truly apologize to Colette, it wanted to get through to Raine, it wanted to help Zelos with his situation, and it wanted to tell Sheena the truth.

But he knew that those wishes would never come true. Long ago, Botta had made it clear that if Lloyd wanted to get revenge and save the world then sacrifices would have to be made, no matter how precious the things he sacrificed were. He had explained that he and Yuan had sacrificed so much merely keeping Lloyd alive and that Lloyd would have to do so as well. There was no way out of this situation. With the weight of his decision on his shoulders already, with the guilt of looking at Colette's soulless eyes, with the thought of doing this to Sheena and Zelos, the young, confused Lloyd felt sicker than he had ever been in his life.

"Hm, Lloyd?"

"What?" asked Lloyd who had managed to prevent himself from jumping backwards. Zelos had shaken Lloyd's shoulder almost violently. He saw Zelos look worried which didn't suit the man at all.

"Lloyd, it looked as if you had dazed off for a moment," explained the man. "I mean, not like your usual one. You looked as if you were about to puke or something."

"Oh, it's nothing," said Lloyd, dismissing the subject.

"Really?" asked Zelos. "All right then. Now," he said, every trace of worry disappearing from his eyes. "Make my breakfast."

"What?" asked Lloyd, who was still stunned.

"Sorry about that buddy," said the chosen. "But the brat won't cook me breakfast."

Genis, who took immense displeasure at being called a brat, rushed to defend his reasoning. "I'm making pancakes for Raine and Presea. You'll just have to wait."

"Aw come on," said Zelos mocking being sad. "I'm hungry now."

"No!" replied Genis angrily.

"Relax," said Lloyd, pushing Zelos aside from Genis. "I'll do them."

The reaction to those words resembled that of when the truth about Cruxis and angels had been discovered. The only noise that echoed was the sound of Raine's book falling to the ground. Even Presea looked almost surprised. Genis finally spoke. "You're…making…pancakes?"

"Um, yeah," replied Lloyd, who was completely oblivious to the reason that everyone was surprised.

"Um…" Genis said quietly. "So, you know how to cook?"

Lloyd paused for a moment. He seemed almost to be wondering if he did know how to. Finally, after what felt like hours had gone by, he finally answered. "Well, I know how to make a sandwich…"

"Are you sure making pancakes is a good idea then?" asked Genis, who had calmed down quite a lot after he had seen Lloyd stand up for him. "I mean, sandwiches are pretty easy to make."

"Relax," was Lloyd's reply. "I mean; all I have to do is follow the books instructions right?" He waited a few minutes for a response. Genis, however, was completely speechless at the thought of Lloyd cooking anything at all. Everyone in the party was having trouble imagining him doing anything fun or happy at all. Finally Lloyd, who took their silence for a yes, walked over to the cooking utensils.

Genis leaned over near his sister. _"Are you sure this is a good idea?"_ he whispered over to her.

"_I don't know,"_ whispered Raine back. _"I don't think we can exactly stop him."_

Genis sighed. He knew that his sister was right. After all, Lloyd seemed to think that he could manage cooking when he had only made sandwiches before.

Lloyd meanwhile, was already having difficulty. He let out a small growl of frustration. His hands where too clumsy, he couldn't even turn a page of Genis' cookbook. "Damn," he whispered.

"Here," offered Genis, holding onto the page. Using the limberness of his hands, he turned the page for him. Noticing how stupid Lloyd felt, he immediately brought up an explanation. "The pages are really thin," he explained. "I had trouble with it all the time for a while."

"Damn," whispered Lloyd attempting to turn the page again. "My left hand is too weak."

"Huh?" asked Genis confused. "Oh, are you right handed?" he asked, looking at Lloyd's broken arm.

"…Yes," replied Lloyd grudgingly attempting to turn the page again.

"But you'll be able to get the hang of it eventually," said Genis, attempting to encourage the distraught Lloyd.

Lloyd's face suddenly looked more worried. "Eventually," he said quietly. "…Yeah…I'll get it…eventually…"

"Are you sure nothing's wrong?" asked Sheena who was sitting away from the group.

"…Yeah…" replied Lloyd in barely more than a whisper.

"You know," said Genis, taking the book from Lloyd. "I think I can make enough of these for everyone."

"…Okay…" replied Lloyd, handing the book to the younger boy, knowing that this may be the last time he saw him. He sneaked away stealthily, almost ninja like. Because of these strange antics, Raine, Sheena and Zelos looked up and stared at him. Lloyd turned red in the face and immediately slowed down to a normal walk.

"Uh, what was that about?" asked Zelos when Lloyd leaned against the tree next to him. "You don't need to be stealthy when around us you know…"

"I know," said Lloyd. What should he say? He couldn't exactly say he trusted them, however he couldn't say that he didn't trust them at the same time. "It's just a force of habit…"

"…Okay?" relied Zelos looking confused. "Hey, there's something I want to ask you…"

"Hm, what?" whispered Lloyd leaning in towards Zelos.

Zelos looked around at the people around them. Sheena was busy looking through her cards, Raine was paging through her book, and Genis was cooking. Zelos leaned in closer. _"It's a question about your wings,"_ he whispered.

Lloyd froze for a moment. He hadn't been expecting that at all. Why did Zelos want to know about Lloyd's wings? Still, he whispered back _"What's the question?"_

Once again, Zelos looked around quickly. When he finally became convinced that no one would hear, he began whispering again. _"Well, I was wondering, is a Cruxis crystal required?"_

"_Yes,"_ whispered Lloyd. _"It isn't possible to begin the transformation without the crystal."_

"_Really?"_ whispered Zelos, not looking as surprised as he sounded. _"Well, then I guess that I had better visit Seles soon then."_

"_Huh? Why?" _asked Lloyd.

"_Oh, it was part of the plan to keep me alive,"_ explained Zelos. _"I gave the crystal to my little sister who lives at the SE abbey. It's so no one kills me and takes the crystal."_

"_That's not what I meant," _whispered Lloyd, who was theone looking around nervously. _"I want to know why you want it in the first place."_

"_Oh, you see," _said Zelos who looked almost worried. _"I thought that if I became an angel, then it would help everyone more than if I'm not."_

"_Are you sure? I mean; it's painful becoming an angel, especially if you're not the chosen, because then you have to grow wings without the help of an angel. And growing them naturally is extremely painful, especially if you don't have elven blood."_

"_I know. And I don't care. If we take on something as big as Cruxis, then we all need to be equally powerful. And I can go through any pain for that."_

"…_Okay…It's your choice…I won't stop you."_

"Hey Lloyd! Zelos!" The two men almost jumped as Genis called out to them. "Breakfast time!"

"Okay!" shouted Zelos, his seriousness changing immediately to his usual glee. "Yay! Pancakes!"

Lloyd sighed, smiling sadly. He would miss that cheerfulness. His smile fading, he followed his friend over to the fire.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kratos was sitting alone, his back against the wall, gazing up at the sky. Or at least what would have been the sky had this not been Derris Kharlan, which had nothing more than an artificial ceiling. He sighed quietly. _How would you feel?_ He wondered, reaching for a chain around his neck. _Anna?_ He gazed down at the image before him. A brown haired woman held a small child who smiled widely at the viewer. Kratos was standing behind her, with what may be considered a smile, however since this is Kratos, it looked rather forced.

How many times had he looked at this picture? How many times had he sat alone, gazing at was once his family? He had every part of the picture memorized, the position of the people, the pale bluish white background, even the small smudge where he had accidentally spilled water on before he had joined Cruxis again.

He sighed. Anna would not approve of the future that he had stolen from her. She had always despised Cruxis and would have nothing to do with the renegades either. All she had wanted was to live a normal life and to raise a normal family. But she had one problem: she had picked the wrong husband, for Kratos was the polar opposite of the ideal husband that she wanted. Kratos could do anything but fulfill her final wish.

He sighed again, looking anywhere but at the ceiling or the picture. What if he had gotten to Lloyd before Yuan had? What if he had never been placed in this position?

But what would Lloyd have wanted to happen? Would he have wanted to live with Kratos, or would he have rather chosen to live with someone else? And while it pained Kratos to think so, what if Yuan could raise Lloyd better than Kratos could?

* * *

"Lloyd, are you sure of this?"

"Yeah, just relax Genis," replied the boy, grabbing onto a notch in the wall.

"I'm just not sure," replied the mage, placing his hands on his hips. "I mean, how will we be able to lift the rheihards? And Sheena hasn't made the pact with Volt yet, so we can't fly on them. And I don't think that Zelos could carry all those rheihards."

"Hey, hey, hey," said Zelos, almost angry, but with his hands busy holding on to two bags of supplies. "Don't doubt my strength."

"Well, would you want to carry them for miles and miles?" asked Genis. "All the way across that bridge and to wherever Volt's temple is?"

"Whoa!" said Zelos nearly jumping back, but with Colette behind him, he was prevented from doing so. "Just how far are we going?"

"I don't know," said Genis frustrated. "I've never lived in Tethe'alla."

"Just relax," said Lloyd, grabbing a hold of the next notch. "I have a plan."

"Well, I sure hope it's a good one," said Genis, grabbing a bag from a tired looking Raine. "I mean; we're already having trouble carrying all of these bags. I don't think we can handle having to carry rheihards as well."

_You won't have to worry about carrying anything for much longer,_ thought Lloyd. _Not when you're locked inside the Renegade base…_ "Relax, we're almost to the peak."

"Wait, so what exactly will we do after this?" asked Sheena fairly loudly from the back of the group.

"We're going to heal Colette!" said Genis confidently. "And then…and then…"

"We'll find some way to save Sylvarant and Tethe'alla," said Lloyd, finishing Genis' sentence for him.

"Yeah!" said Genis agreeing with Lloyd. "Wait, how will we do that?"

Lloyd sighed. "Research would probably help," he said quietly. "But with us banned from Meltokio and Sybak, there's almost no where to go."

"We'll find someplace," said Genis confidently. "Hey, is that the peak?"

Sure enough, ahead of them was a small clearing. Machines that could only be recognizable as rheihards lay on the sides. Some of them were turned on their sides, others had landed front first into the ground. Lloyd kneeled next to a red one, examining a huge dent on its side. "You really had a bad crash, didn't you?" he asked, running his hand across the rigid metal.

"It's to be expected," said Raine, examining her own rheihard. "It was our first flight and we were running low on fuel."

"Well, yeah," said Lloyd, dragging the rheihard to the side. "Still, these are in pretty bad condition. You might need these looked…." He stopped talking suddenly looking about.

"Lloyd, is something wrong?" asked Sheena, who had just grabbed the purple rheihard, but if Lloyd could hear her, he didn't show it. His body went rigid, his head twisted from side to side, as if looking for something. Suddenly, he did a back flip, jumping across his rheihard and landing on a rock on the other side. "Lloyd," Sheena started to say, but was cut off suddenly. What appeared to be orange bursts of mana had flown suddenly, burning her hand a little. She leapt back in pain, only to discover that the mana had completely surrounded them, all except Colette.

Just as things couldn't get any worse, men leapt from behind rocks, swords raised. It only took them a few moments to recognize them as renegades as their leader Yuan approached. Genis, who could easily put two and two together stumbled while trying to avoid the mana, falling into Colette almost. "What the?" he shouted, pulling himself up.

"So, I guess that's it," said Lloyd, his bangs covering his eyes, which were flashing violently. "You've figured it out…"

"Wait a minute!" shouted Sheena, angrily pulling out her cards. "You mean to tell us that you were betraying us to the renegades all this time?"

"…You didn't honestly believe I was a mercenary, did you?" asked Lloyd, unsheathing one of his swords with his good arm. "Honestly…Raine and Genis, you two being the smartest people in the group, I was sure that you at least would suspect me…"

"Whoa Lloyd," said Zelos, who didn't seem quite as surprised at his betrayal. In fact, he seemed interested in the Renegades. "Just who are these people?"

But Genis cut over him. "What the hell?" he shouted angrily. "That defense of my sister and me…that risking your life…it was all just an act?"

"Please, Genis, you have a high IQ, you shouldn't have to ask me that," said Lloyd coolly. "Now, we will be taking the chosen."

"What do you think you can do with her?" demanded Sheena. "Her key crest isn't working, the only thing she can do is become Martel. And you…you people don't want that!"

"There are easy ways to fix that," explained Yuan, looking over at Colette. "If it's convenient, we can save her life. But since it probably won't be…it'll just be easier if we gas her."

"Don't kill Colette!" shouted Genis, trying to bang his fists against the mana, but only succeeded in burning them, just as Sheena had. Still, he continued to pound of the barrier, his hands turning red from inflammation.

"Stop doing that," said Lloyd, watching as if in sick amusement. "You're hand's will be damaged."

Still, Genis continued. "Just because you've never cared about anyone!" he shouted, his hands starting to bleed rapidly. "You don't understand! You'll never understand!"

"Genis," said Raine quietly, trying to hold back her brother, yet he continued, his hands getting bloodier and bloodier with each pound.

"You'll never know that pain of losing someone!" shouted Genis, who was starting to cry.

Lloyd just stared at Genis, his eyes still hidden. Genis froze, his hands still on the mana, bleeding so much it dripped on the ground, mixing with his tear. Lloyd's grip on his sword tightened, his blade shaking rapidly. Finally he shouted. "No! It's you who doesn't understand!" he shouted, trying to stab Genis through the mana, but to no avail. Still, he continued pressing his blade against the mana. "I've lost many people in my life. You may have no parents, but you have you're sister and you're friends. You don't know what it's like to lose everyone that ever meant anything to you!"

Lloyd's outburst had an amazing affect on Genis. His bloody hands fell from the mana, as he collapsed, landing on his knees. Lloyd, realizing that he had made his point lowered his sword. Yuan stood on looking at the boy. He didn't show it, but he was struggling to keep a straight face. Seeing Lloyd's reaction made him feel so guilty, he felt like throwing up. Instead, he cleared his throat. "Lloyd…" he said, his eyes to the ground. "Let us retrieve the chosen."

"…Yes…Lord Yuan…" said Lloyd, his bangs making long shadows on his face.

Genis, who looked absolutely devastated, gave his last battle. "Please!" he shouted, his eyes closing violently, spraying his tears against the mana. "Maybe I won't understand, maybe I'll never understand! Please just listen! How did you feel when you lost those who actually meant something to you? Didn't you feel rejected and hurt? Please, do you want others to feel that same pain?"

Lloyd froze. His face was still hidden. He had just placed his sword in front of Colette. At first, Genis actually thought that he had made an impact, as Lloyd's mouth and body started twitching slightly. But instead, Lloyd spoke quietly. "If I actually felt empathy…then I may have cared…."

"No!" shouted Genis, burying his head in his bloody hands.

Colette didn't seem to even try to fight Lloyd back. She just glanced at him as he aimed his sword at her. As he attempted to lead her away, a portal appeared. _What the?_ He though, while removing his sword from Colette's throat.

_Is this?_ Thought Yuan. _Yes, it must be her. I can't be seen here. It'll give away my secret._ Quickly, he leapt behind a rock. _Lloyd knows…I taught him that._

As the portal expanded, Lloyd raised his sword to protect his eyes. Colette, whose goal now was sorely to survive, backed away. Lloyd, having no idea who would immerge, stood where he was, taking a defensive position.

Out of the portal appeared a woman with green hair tied back. She wore a revealing outfit and had no weapons on her that Lloyd could see. He didn't know it at the moment, but she was the leader of the Desian grand cardinals, Pronyma.

"…And just who the hell are you?" asked Lloyd, losing his defensive position, now that he saw that she didn't have any weapons.

_Does he look to Yuan for his lines as well?_ Wondered Genis, who looked too scared to react.

"Why do you deserve to know my name?" demanded the woman. "Lloyd…"

Lloyd immediately resumed his position, his broken arm dangling at his side. His feet and hand tensed as he nearly shouted his next words. "How do you know my name?"

"Well, aren't you mister questionnaire?" taunted the woman. Looking over his shoulder, she noticed Colette. "Excellent," she said coolly. "I can take both you and the chosen."

Yuan flinched. He couldn't let Lloyd get kidnapped by Cruxis, but he couldn't just give away his position. However, just when he started to stand up, he heard Lloyd's voice.

"So you think that I'll just let you kidnap me then?" he asked angrily. "Well then, you're even more of a bitch than how you dress."

"You sure are cocky for someone with a broken arm," said the woman. "Do you not know who I am?"

"A woman who dresses like a whore?" asked Lloyd, taking a brave step foreword.

"Just shut up about the clothes," said the woman, looking very annoyed. "I am Pronyma, leader of the Desian grand cardinals."

"That's nice," said Lloyd coolly. "Maybe then you'll prove a challenge."

Pronyma laughed loudly. "I'll prove more than a challenge with your arm like that!"

"That's just a handicap," said Lloyd even cooler. "I'm sure you'll appreciate it."

Pronyma was more than annoyed now. "Dark sphere!" she shouted, a huge sphere appearing where Lloyd stood. Luckily, he managed to dodge it just barley, his hand only being nicked slightly.

"Demon fang!" he shouted, just as he landed on his feet. Pronyma also dodged his attack.

"Why did you decide to use a weak attack like that?" she demanded, brushing herself off.

"Hey, that's your handicap," said Lloyd coolly. "Double demon fang!"

Pronyma dodged the first one, but the second demon fang hit her in the chest. Still, she managed to brush it off. "Is that the best you can do?"

"So you want me to stop going easy on you?" asked Lloyd. But he knew that wasn't the truth. He hadn't actually been going easy on her; he had been trying. "Sonic thrust!"

Pronyma almost glided away from the blade. "How sad…" was all that she said. "Dark sphere!"

This time, Lloyd was utterly defenseless. Pronyma's attack was a direct hit. He shouted as the electricity surged through his body. He was thrust back as his back his a rock.

"You should give up," said Pronyma coolly. "In your condition, there's no way you can fight."

"Lloyd, I'm not doing this for you," said Raine, who had been speechless. "But I'm doing it so I don't have to watch anymore. Stop fighting. Last time you broke your arm, think about what may happen this time!"

If Raine's words had any effect on Lloyd, he didn't show it. Using his sword, he managed to lift himself up. "No," he said quietly, blood starting to drip from his good arm. "I'm not going down without a fight."

"You're more stubborn than your body allows," taunted Pronyma.

"That won't change how I feel," said Lloyd as he began chanting. "I call upon thee in the land of the dead, to unleash thy fury of thunder. INDIGNATION!"

A circle with runes on it surrounded Pronyma. Before she could move, a huge bolt of lightning struck her. Seeing that his spell had worked, Lloyd allowed himself to fall to the ground again. But soon, the woman immerged, with only a few wounds.

"Congratulations," she said sarcastically. "You finally damaged me. But you realize, your body is almost empty of mana."

"What does she mean by that?" asked Genis.

Raine looked like she was about to explain, but Sheena cut her off. "Since Lloyd's a human," she explained. "He can't use the natural mana of the world."

"I don't understand," said Genis quietly.

"In other words," said Zelos, who looked bored. "Because you and the professor have elven blood, you can borrow mana from nature for your magical attacks. But, Lloyd is only a human who ingested Aionis. Because of that, for magical attacks, he has to use his own body's mana. Because the body requires mana to function, it is usually suggested that humans don't use attacks like Indignation because they use too much of our mana and it usually leaves us weak and tired."

"So then how did Colette use magical attacks without becoming tired?" asked Genis.

"Her attacks are angelic abilities," explained Sheena. "Elemental attacks and healing abilities are mana used in nature while angelic abilities are created by Cruxis. So she used the mana coming from her Cruxis crystal, which didn't use her body's mana. The only time that the body's mana is required is when she developed inhuman abilities, such as wings and better hearing."

"Those type of things are generally learned when a human either ingests Aionis or when they're learning how to summon," explained Zelos, who went back to watching Lloyd's fight.

Sheena and Zelos had been right. Lloyd had used so much of his mana recovering and casting Indignation that he was struggling to get up. Every move seemed to be a struggle; every time he moved up the slightest difference, his body shook madly. Blood was trickling down from his forehead and from his mouth.

Pronyma, who seemed to have decided that Lloyd was no longer a problem, started gliding over to Colette. Just as she was reaching out towards her neck, she heard Lloyd shout. "Leave her alone," he managed to say, his voice struggling to speak. "I'm still not done." His head jerked upwards fast, his eyes stuck in between a shade of yellow and red.

"Who dropped on your head when you were young?" demanded Pronyma, leaving Colette.

Lloyd ignored this comment. Shakily and holding onto the tip of the rock, he barely managed to lift himself upwards.

"You really don't know when to stop," said Pronyma, annoyed. She finally reached him and had dragged him up by his collar. "Don't you realize that you've probably pushed your body far beyond its limit?"

"So?" demanded Lloyd, trying to grip his sword, but his sweaty palm felt like it was about to drop the hilt any second.

"Dark sphere!" shouted Pronyma. But no dark sphere appeared. Lloyd was confused, until he felt sharp pains throughout his body. He screamed.

"What's going on?" asked Genis. "Why's he in pain?"

"The dark sphere…." Said Zelos before he finally figured it out. "She cast it inside of him. That spell, it exploded inside of his body!"

Lloyd's body was shaking violently. Bolts of electricity exploded at his sides. A huge bolt suddenly exploded out of his chest. His blood from the chest wound drenched the ground beneath him. Pronyma threw him to the ground, where he fell unconscious.

"You pitiful soul," she said, looking down at the boy, whose blood was literally everywhere. "Since you're going to Cruxis I can't guarantee that you will be able to live."

Sheena, who had just hated Lloyd a few minutes ago, looked absolutely shocked. She nearly collapsed at the sight of Lloyd bleeding so much. Her right hand covered one of her eyes while her left was clenched around her waist.

"What is this?" demanded Pronyma, holding Colette's Cruxis crystal, her hand still covered with Lloyd's blood. "What's this pitiful Key crest doing on this Cruxis crystal. How pathetic. I shall remove it at once."

But just as she touched the key crest, Colette's red eyes turned to blue. Her heart started beating again and her skin turned warm. "No!" she shouted. "Lloyd's nearly dead because of you! Get away from me!"

"Colette spoke!" shouted Genis, who despite looking absolutely horrified, almost smiled.

"Why's everyone inside that thing?" asked Colette, but she was soon distracted. "Lloyd!" she shouted, running over to the boy. "Lloyd, are you alive?" she asked, placing her hand on the boy's bloody chest. His heart was barley beating.

"Lloyd, please are you alive?" she shouted, barely able to keep him up. Suddenly, she saw a hand and a bright blue light. Looking up, she saw none other than Yuan.

"Relax, I'm just transferring some of my mana to him," said the man, taking Lloyd from her. "He'll live for now."

"Are you sure?" asked Colette, still looking worried.

"Yes," said Yuan. "As soon as I restore some of his body's mana, his normal body functions will resume." Just as he said, Colette' felt Lloyd's body grow warmer.

"Okay," said Colette, standing up, looking more relieved. She ran over back to her friends. "Don't worry guys," she said, looking around. "I'll get you out of there!"

"Colette, are you sure you're back to normal?" asked Genis.

"Yeah," said Colette. "Genis!" she suddenly shouted. "What happened to your hands?"

Lloyd's heart had started beating at a normal pace. Still, Yuan soon realized that he wouldn't be able to stop his major bleeding with mana alone.

"Oh dear! I broke it!" He turned around to see Colette lying on the ground next to a small metal device. The orange mana was no longer there. He sighed. He shouldn't have made that device so easy to destroy. But at the moment, that was the least of his worries.

If Lloyd was to live, he would have to take him to the Renegade base to get medical attention. He bent over and managed to lift the boy upwards. "Lord Yuan, where are you taking him?" demanded Pronyma, who had been left speechless at what had happened to Colette until now. "I was supposed to take him to lord Yggdrasil!"

"…Did he order you to take him alive?" asked Yuan, a hint of anger in his voice.

"I was supposed to…"

"I know what you're supposed to do, now answer my question," said Yuan coolly turning his head towards her.

"Yes…I was supposed to bring him alive," said Pronyma quietly.

"Well, of he keeps bleeding like this, then he won't be alive," said Yuan looking away. "He needs medical attention."

"But I was supposed to bring him!" shouted Pronyma.

"I don't think it matters who brings him," said Yuan. "So long as he's alive. Besides, you have to focus on capturing the chosen."

"Fine," said Pronyma, grudgingly preparing a spell.

Yuan let his wings fly outwards. He let his wings flap a few times as he hadn't used them for a while. Finally, when he knew they were ready, he took off the cliff, leaving the chosen and her group to fend for themselves.

* * *

Me: Finally! The Queen of procrastination has updated!

Lloyd: I hate this job! First I break my arm, then I almost die! Do you hate me or something you violent person?

Me: Nope!

Lloyd: I'm going on strike (raises mini strike sign) until I get better working conditions!

Me: Hehe, but I have…THE ETERNAL SWORD!!!

Mithos: Hey! Me stole the Eternal Sword!

Me: Muhahaha! Now, Lloyd's no longer on strike!

Lloyd:…There are some days I just hate you…

Me: Well, remember, reviews are always appreciated.


	16. The Coma

Here you go everyone, here's your Christmas gift: Chapter 16 of The Life of a Renegade (finally!)

Lloyd: Wait, during this chapter, I'm in a coma?

Me: Hehe, you'll feel the pain of boredom that I did this weekend!

Lloyd: How can you write about a coma?

Me:…Well, you have a special coma with very special dreams!

Lloyd:…Special dreams? You mean those dreams some girls have of me kissing Zelos?

Me: Um, well, we'll leave from that subject! Anyway, ready…? BEGIN!!!

_**Bold Italics represent speaking in a different language. **_

* * *

Chapter 16: The Coma

* * *

Lloyd's eyes snapped open. Where was he? Struggling to see, he forced his eyes to look ahead. The area above him was nearly pitch black. Wait a minute, what had just happened?

He racked his brain for memory. If he remembered right, he had just been fighting Pronyma. And he had been getting his ass kicked. Then, why did he feel no pain?

Suddenly, a bright light let up the center of the blackness. It was a white circular shape. In merely seconds, it grew larger, spreading across the "sky". Another circle lit up where the white had been seconds before, this one purple. It followed the exact pattern of the previous as a turquoise ring appeared after it.

_Damn it, where am I?_ He thought. _I can't just sit here!_

Using his strength, he managed to look over at his arm. He jerked in surprise. Just the other day his arm had been completely broken. But here, there wasn't a single bandage on it. To test himself, he attempted to move his fingers. He felt so stiff, but they did indeed move, with no pain at all.

Leaning on his now healed arm; he pushed himself upwards. He had been lying face up at this "sky". Now, he had a better look at his surroundings. Framing the "sky" was blue mist that resembled clouds. Touching the mist were sapphire mountains, surrounding the area, providing no exit.

Lloyd looked at where he was. He appeared to be on a small, circular piece of land, dark turquoise, tall grass covering every inch. Gleaming with the circular lights was clear, dark water, surrounding the land on which he stood.

Lloyd stood up completely. He didn't know how'd he would get around those mountains, but he knew that he had to. Taking off his boots, he stepped off the land and into the water. As he stepped, huge ripples were sent across the water.

* * *

After wading for several minutes, Lloyd finally reached what he thought was land. It certainly was larger than that small island he had started on. It had the same, dark turquoise grass, however this one had small, lavender flower buds. Not too far off in the distance, he managed to see a small forest. Slipping his boots back on, he started towards the woods.

As he stepped underneath the first tree, he noticed that its leaves had a slightly darker complexion than the grass. All of the trees in this "forest" had pale, white bark. Taking a deep breath, Lloyd entered the forest.

* * *

"Damn it," Lloyd cursed after tripping over yet another tree root. The forest was dark, only small amounts of light came from the dark sky above and even that small flicker didn't help him see his way. And, while the trees he knew seemed to wither without sunlight, these seemed to thrive in the eternal shadow of this world. Everywhere he managed to see with his bad eyesight was practically obscured by tree branches or roots. Here, the grass had grown tall and wild, the strange lavender flower buds had vanished.

Using a low hanging branch, Lloyd pulled himself upwards. He must have been searching in the forest for hours, however the sky showed no sign of change. The only lights in the sky were those strange circles, which were staying in the same position as they had before he had entered this forest.

A few times he could have sworn he had seen strange squirrel-like animals jump across the branches in front of him, but as he had approached them, they had scurried away deep into the near by leaves. And every now and then, he heard what sounded like animals running far away, however he had yet to encounter them.

What was worse was that he had lost his way, leaving him completely unable to find a way out of here. Everything looked the same, trees surrounded by darkness except for a few specks of light shining in some areas. Sighing, Lloyd started off towards one of these small pools of light ahead.

Reaching his destination, he leaned against one of the trees and allowed himself to fall to the ground. Where was this place? He had been in both Tethe'alla and Sylvarant, and knew that the only place that complete darkness like this could occur was either very far north or very far south. However, if he were indeed that far away, then there wouldn't be any plant life as sunlight is required for any plant growth.

He pushed himself up with his arms. He was about to leave, however, as he looked to his side, he realized something strange. He stared at the tree for a while. It seemed…different. He couldn't put his finger on it, but it seemed to stand out. Reaching over, he touched it very gently and leapt back at the unusual response. As his fingers brushed across it, it vanished. All that was left behind was wispy, gray smoke.

But he was soon distracted from the smoke, as right staring ahead; he saw what appeared to be a small clearing. And in the center of that clearing was a large stone.

Slowly immerging from the shadows, he walked into the dimly lit clearing cautiously. It appeared some sort of runes were on that stone. A chill went down his spine. This was the same clearing of the nightmare, the dream that he had so long ago. The one where he had killed Sheena and that one man that represented his father.

He dropped to his knees, cold sweat dripping down his entire body. He looked behind him, as if to make sure no one was there. All that there was were trees and shadows.

* * *

A high-pitched noise filled the previously silent area. Lloyd's head snapped back ahead again. The runes on the stone had lit up, an eerie light blue color. They grew brighter, as a circle of the same color appeared in front of the stone. Lloyd sank into the shadows as a figure appeared in the center of the circle.

The figure looked like a boy his age. But that wasn't what surprised Lloyd. What surprised him was, as he looked at his face, he noticed that the boy looked very similar to him. At least, in hair color and facial similarities, he was similar. However, unlike the Lloyd hiding in the shadows, this one had his hair spiked up and was wearing different style clothes.

This "Lloyd" surveyed the area around him. Lloyd, the longhaired one, crouched deeper into the shadows. Thankfully, this "Lloyd" seemed unable to see him. Instead, he turned to the stone with runes. "Yuan, you're paranoid, you know that?" he said, as he pulled out a huge purple sword and touched the stone with it. "Nothing unusual is happening here."

As this stranger vanished, Lloyd sat there stunned. Yuan? How'd this person know him? And what was with the similar looks?

He stood back up. This stone appeared to be a sort of portal. After all, the boy had managed to go through it. And that boy knew Yuan; perhaps this was a portal back to his world. But, the light in the runes seemed to be dimming. Lloyd quickly got up and sprinted to the stone. Maybe if he reached them in time, he could get back. He slammed his hands onto the stone.

All at once he felt a spinning feeling. The clearing before him began to blur. Soon it was nothing more than a blur of dark blue colors. The last thing he saw was that image slowing vanishing as he completely lost consciousness.

* * *

"_**Eh? Who's he?"**_

"_**Grandma! He was laying outside, bleeding everywhere!"**_

"_**Calm down, let me see him!"**_

"_**Grandma! I think he's dying!"**_

"_**Listen, there's nothing I can do if you don't calm down and let me examine him!"**_

"_**Okay here!"**_

"_**His wounds are serious!"**_

"_**Is he going to die?"**_

"_**I don't know! Pass me the bandages!"**_

"_**Okay!"**_

A searing pain suddenly awakened Lloyd in his arm. "Ah!" he screamed, grabbing at his arm. He felt blood cover his hand.

"Mister, we can't do anything with you grabbing at your arm like that! And I'm no doctor, so this may hurt a little!"

He looked over, not understanding these strange words. An old woman wearing a simple dress seemed to be shouting at him, using this strange tongue.

"_**Please calm down, everything will be okay!"**_

A woman to his side shouted these words. She looked a lot younger than the woman shouting but was wearing similar clothes. She seemed strangely familiar. "Who are you people?" shouted Lloyd, still clutching at his arm, as his chest started bleeding as well.

"**_What's he saying?"_** shouted the younger woman.

"**_I don't know, but his wounds more serious than I thought!"_** shouted the older woman. **_"Just calm down!!!"_**

"Where am I?" asked Lloyd, trying to calm down, but becoming steadily more nervous as he felt he blood ooze everywhere.

"**_We have no choice!"_** shouted the older woman. And before Lloyd could try to understand, he felt a sharp pain and he blacked out again.

* * *

Me: And we leave there.

Lloyd: Do you hate me or something like that?

Me: What?

Sheena: You've had him cuss at a young age, learn that his parents were murdered, go on killing rampages, drop the f-bomb, lied to all his life, scarred his back, nearly burn to death, had him learn sex ed too early in life, break his arm, broke open his chest, nearly die, fall into a coma, and black out twice!

Kratos: It's okay; she hates me too.

Me: Where'd you get that idea?

Kratos: Well, you had my best friend take away my son, you scarred my face, had my son reject me, had me nearly die, oh and you didn't let me take revenge on the person who happened to kidnap my son in the first place!

Me: I don't hate you! You just…are…very…special! Yeah, special!

Kratos:…face it, you hate me.

Me: Okay! That's it! You get to go Christmas caroling with Yuan and Yggdrasil!

Kratos: What! Why?

Me:. I dunno. I just wanted to.

Zelos: (Kratos, Yuan, and Yggdrasill are heard in the background singing Jingle bells) Well, please leave a review! Santa puts people who review on the "Good list". Merry Christmas!


	17. The Dying World

Hello!!! Yes, I know that I haven't updated for so long. So what made me update today? Well, part of it was those who sent a PM asking about the story (which I thank you for, I now know that if I stop updating I will be missed) and part of it was all the fanfiction alerts that I had in my e-mail today, which before I read them, I thought that they were death threats sent by you guys. FYI, be sure to read **every thing** before reviewing. If you don't, you may be very confused. So, Ready...? BEGIN!!!

* * *

Chapter 16: The Dying World

* * *

Lloyd awoke much later feeling as if he was experiencing a very bad hang over. He attempted to survey the room he was in, but found it imposable. His vision was completely foggy. All that he could see were several shapeless colors. He blinked. The colors had become darker and had some sort of shape. He blinked again. Tiny details slowly appeared. As he blinked, his vision slowly improved until he could quite clearly see the room around him. 

It appeared to be very plain. Everything seemed to be either brown or gray. The dirt floor was completely bare, except for a gray carpet that appeared to be sewn together from old clothes. The mud wall had many cracks in it and was windowless. As he stood up from the old bed, he noticed that the wood was completely rotting.

He yawned. Where was he? This type of house resembled nothing from Tethe'alla or Sylvarant. He didn't know any type of village that was this poor. Even the mana level was different. He had to check it several times before he realized that it was true. This world's mana level was dangerously low. In fact, it seemed that it barely supported the amount that was required for life. Compared to this place, Sylvarant was no big deal.

As he walked through the hole that he assumed was a door, he immediately noticed that this room was not better off than the last. Instead of a door, a hole led outside, with several bony chickens with ruffled feathers crossing through from time to time. The sky was completely gray and there appeared to be no plant life that he could see. Several times, a weak breeze blew some dust by, however there was no sign that plants were anywhere nearby.

He heard what appeared to be a human speaking. He leapt around immediately to see who was speaking this strange language. When he had fully spun around, he saw what was the result of this low mana level.

The girl looked like she was barely surviving. Her skin was an unhealthy white, except for several brown spots. Her hair looked as if it had never been washed and hung limply, as dead as she was. Her eyes were completely drained of color and dark pouches took up most of her face. Her body looked as if it were a skeleton wrapped in skin. She couldn't have been older than eleven.

She spoke again in a strange language. "Um," Lloyd said, unsure how to communicate with her. "No speak?"

She stared at him for a few moments. Finally, she picked up a stick and began to draw on the dirt ground. However, every stroke seemed to take all the energy that she had.

He started at the pictures that she had drawn. A stick figure falling from the sky? Two stick figures taking that stick figure to a house? She looked at him for a moment. Finally, she pointed at him. The, she slowly pointed at the stick figure falling from the sky. Once she was sure he understood, she pointed to herself, then to one of the stick figures carrying the injured one. Lloyd was still confused. "Then who's the?" he began but was cut off by and older woman entering the room.

The woman wasn't better off than the girl. Assuming that she was her mother, she would be pretty young, however with wrinkles and because she had a bit of a hunchback, she looked much older.

The girl held out her hand, as if expecting something. Lloyd stared at her completely clueless. She sighed and picked up the stick and drew. A stick figure handing something to another? She held out her hand again. "Oh," said Lloyd, pulling some gald out of his pocket. But the girl wouldn't accept it. She shook her head, pointing at her mouth. "Food?" asked Lloyd. What did he have? Once again, he searched his pockets until he had found several apple gels. The girl took them greedily and ran over to her mother. It was amazing how fast they ate them.

Seeing as how they seemed to ignore him now, he left out the door. He had kick several chickens out of the way.

* * *

There were no roads in this "town". Instead, there was a dirt path that was full of footprints. Occasionally, he saw a child that was a walking skeleton, however, most of them stayed inside, staring at him, the healthiest looking person there. 

At first, many of the villagers had run up to him, shouting in the strange language. He could only shake his head, not understanding them.

But they all had one thing in common: they all looked as bad as the girl and woman back in the hut he had left. Many of them looked as if they had hardly eaten for months. But with a mana level this low, that was to be expected as no plant life could survive here.

Finally, after walking what felt like miles, he reached the end of the village. All that lay ahead of him was a hill. There were several trees there, however they had no leaves and their bark was completely gone, probably eaten by villagers with desperation. He looked back at the village of dirt roads and mud huts. What could he do? He couldn't stay in this world that was certain. He would die before the villagers. He was even starting to feel lightheaded because of lack of mana.

But how would he leave this world? He didn't even know how he had managed to arrive in that strange dark world, much less this one. Besides, that "other" Lloyd that he had seen wasn't as unhealthy as the people here, he couldn't live here. So what could he do?

After standing there for some time, he finally made his decision. He had found no way to get out in the village. So he would have to search for a way. He immediately began to climb the hill ahead of him.

* * *

After a few hours of walking, he reached what appeared to be a dried out spring. Strangely, the mana level seemed to be higher here, as if a whole spring of mana had been here once. A twig snapped. He turned around quickly to see if anyone was there. However, all he saw were the dead trees. Suddenly, he noticed something at his feet. A small pouch? He picked it up. It appeared to be made of a weak cloth, with a spell sewn on it.

He looked up. Suddenly, his vision began to blur again. He slowly collapsed, feeling as if some powerful forced was forcing him at top speed away.

* * *

Lloyd awoke with a loud yawn. For a few minutes he stretched, as the ground was a very, very rough place to sleep, causing him to feel extremely stiff. Grabbing his two swords, he started the hunt once again.

The Iselia forest was vast; it had grown a lot over one year. But that wasn't what he was focusing on. Where was that brat that had taken Colette's Cruxis Crystal? The event had just happened yesterday. When Colette had been shopping with Lloyd yesterday, a 14-year-old boy had run past them and taken her Cruxis Crystal, running into the forest.

Lloyd didn't think that a kid could do much with her Cruxis Crystal; however, they couldn't risk anything at all. All that Lloyd noticed about him were his wavy, dirty blonde hair and his gray eyes.

Lloyd slashed a vine in front of him. He had only slept 5 hours and apart from that, he had been running straight for hours. He would have to run into that kid soon.

After a few minutes, he reached a very small clearing. Looking about, he noticed what appeared to be the remains of a fire. Also, a small patch of grass looked like it had been slept on. This must have been where the kid had slept.

But instead of going down the path further, Lloyd did something unexpected. He slashed at a branch above him. There was a sound that sounded like a muffled scream. He heard a loud thump and turned about. The kid from the other day was there.

Before he could run again, Lloyd grabbed onto the boy. The kid growled angrily and pulled out a pocketknife. But Lloyd grabbed his hand before he could stab him. He dropped the knife as Lloyd tightened his grip. It fell to the ground loudly, echoing in the clearing. "How in Hell did you know I was up there?" demanded the boy.

"Simple," said Lloyd coolly. "There weren't any foot prints ahead on the path. And the plant life around here is practically impossible to head through unless you're very strong, which judging by how thin you are, you don't possess that strength."

"Damn!" shouted the boy, looking irate.

"If you just give me the crystal back, I'll let you go and forget all about this," said Lloyd.

"No!" shouted the boy, struggling against Lloyd's grip.

"Come on, what would a 14 year old like you do with it?" demanded Lloyd.

"First off, I'm twelve!" shouted the boy, struggling harder. "And second, it's not for me!"

"Oh, so you're working for someone?" shouted Lloyd, shaking the kid. "Who is it?"

"I'm not telling you!" shouted the boy, giving up on his struggle.

"So should I take you back to Iselia?" said Lloyd, tauntingly.

But before the boy could answer, a puff of blue smoke appeared in front of a tree. Steadily, a person appeared. A woman, who looked about 28, appeared. There was a long scar along her face across her nose and her eyes were hazel. Her auburn hair was in a ponytail.

"Ajax," she said, looking like she was speaking to the boy. "She no longer requires the Crystal. You main return it."

Ajax let out a growl of frustration. "Fine!" he shouted, taking a red stone out of his pocket. He threw it across the clearing. Taking advantage of Lloyd's weaker grip, he sprinted across the clearing to the woman.

"Wait a minute!" shouted Lloyd. "Whom do you work for?" But both the woman and Ajax vanished in a red puff of smoke. "Damn," he whispered, picking up the red stone. "Just who were those people?"

* * *

"Hey, have you seen Colette?" asked Lloyd. "I need to return her Crystal to her."

Genis shook his head. "She's not here."

"Wait, why?" asked Lloyd. Did those people get to Colette? "She said that she'd be here to get her Crystal back."

"Yeah, that was before the scene this morning," said Genis, picking a weed out of the yard. He and Raine had recently started rebuilding their house. He was working out in the yard at the moment.

"What scene?" asked Lloyd.

Genis looked confused at him for a moment. Then he realized what was wrong. "Oh, that's right, you were in the forest this morning."

"Wait, what difference does that make?" asked Lloyd.

"Well, with all those trees," said Genis, tugging on a particularly difficult weed. "You wouldn't have seen the sky." He smiled as the weed came out of the ground.

"Just cut to the point and tell me what happened," demanded Lloyd.

Genis straightened out a part of the broken fence. "Well, you see, it seemed like a meteor was falling through the sky this morning. At least it seemed like that at first, but it changed color, no meteor does that. And you know how old fashioned the people of Iselia are," said Genis, grabbing a paintbrush. Using white paint, he began to paint the fence. "And they still haven't let go of this "chosen" title. So, strange meteor crashes near by and they send the chosen to save us all."

"Crap," said Lloyd. "Who knows how far it could have fallen, she could take forever to get back."

"Sorry, there's nothing I do about it," said Genis, continuing to paint to fence. Lloyd, knowing there was nothing else that would happen, left Genis, heading to the front of Iselia.

He sat down against one of the posts. He had nothing better to do than wait for Colette.

* * *

A few hours went by. After he began to wonder whether or not he should stay, he heard footsteps. Looking up, he saw what looked like Colette. He leapt up and dashed over. "Hey Colette, I got your Crystal back!" he shouted.

"Lloyd!" Colette gasped. That's when Lloyd realized that she was carrying a body. "Something strange is going on."

"I know, I know," said Lloyd. "Not everyday that a kid steals something that gives you amazing powers."

"It's not that," said Colette laying the stranger on the ground. "Look at his face."

"What about it? It looks normal…" said Lloyd. But he paused. "That boy…" he said, kneeling down. "He…looks just like…me?"

* * *

Yes, anyway, that's the end of the chapter. I'll try to not be too lazy and to update more. See you next time... 


	18. The Legend of Radiance

Sheena: Well, she finally decides to update.

Me: Hey! I've been really busy.

Yuan: Doing what?

Me: Well...mutter mutter mutter

Sheena: Say it louder!

Me: I've been addicted to Radiant Mythology, all right?

Lloyd: Well, from how much you've been playing, you must be very far.

Me: Of course.

Sheena: 16th play through?

Me: I just died against Widdershin for the 15th time!

Sheena: Dear God, you're insane. Get outside a bit.

Me: But, but, Reid needs to level up more!!!!

Sheena: Hide the PSP, dammit. Ready...? BEGIN!!!!

* * *

Chapter 18: The Legend of Radiance

* * *

_Lloyd was standing in a dark room. The blackness seemed to envelop him, hiding even the walls. And yet, he managed to see a small circle of light around him. However, that hardly did anything. The floor was a very pale white with no different features at all. It seemed almost as if he were standing in nothingness._

_Out of the shadows, a figure slowly materialized. However, because of the blackness, he could not see it clearly. He squinted. _

_A fairly tall girl stood before him, with light brown hair and matching eyes. She wore what appeared to be a short-skirted white dress with dark leggings under it. Around her shoulders was a short, blue cape and her white boots reached to her knees._

"_Who are you?" he managed to ask, finding his voice._

_The girl shook her head. "I cannot say here. I will tell you when we meet next." And with that, she turned around._

"_Wait!" he cried. "Why can't you tell me now?"_

_The girl answered without looking back at him. "Because you're about to wake up."_

* * *

"Gyah!" shouted Lloyd, realizing, suddenly, that whatever the woman in the hut had done to his wounds was no longer effective. He sat up, clutching at his chest, as large amounts of blood started to spill out.

"Professor!" shouted a worried voice that sounded strangely familiar, as if he himself had said it. "Professor, he's bleeding a lot!"

Lloyd couldn't even see what was going on, his eyes were scrunched tightly against the pain. And then another familiar voice spoke, a woman's. "First aid!" Lloyd fell back against the pillows, his wounds far from healing, yet at least the bleeding had stopped. "Whoever healed you last time didn't do a very good job at it," said the woman who had healed him. "They were very crude."

Now that most of the pain was gone, Lloyd managed to open his eyes. Immediately he recognized the woman. "Raine," he managed to say, pushing himself up slightly. "What happened to Pronyma?"

"You got hurt by Pronyma?" said the voice that sounded so much like his. He whipped around. What he saw was easily the most shocking thing that day. It was like looking in a mirror.

"Who the Hell are you?!" he shouted, leaping out of the bed and to the other side of the room.

"Hm, now that he's talking, the resemblance is downright creepy," said Raine, with the air of commenting on the weather.

"Who the Hell is he?!" shouted Lloyd again. "He must be from Cruxis."

"Quiet down for a few seconds," said Raine, angrily. "Just like she said...several major differences, but the faces are pretty much the same and there isn't an inch in height difference. Your name is Lloyd Irving?"

"Yes, well, except for the Irving part," said Lloyd angrily. "Can someone please tell me what's going on?"

"I see, what is your last name?" asked Raine, ignoring his question.

"Yggdrasil," replied Lloyd. "What is going on?"

Raine sighed. "Fine. The villagers noticed what looked like a meteor falling from the sky. Colette went and investigated and found you."

"Wait a minute," whispered Lloyd. Was it too much to ask for? He held up the pouch which he still clutched tightly in his hand. "Do you know what this is?"

Raine took it, looking bored. But as soon as she looked over the seal, her expression changed. "Where did you get this?" she demanded, her eyes practically leaping out of her head.

"It was back where I was last time," he explained. "Someone must have thrown it at me."

"I see, so she must have known somehow..." said Raine, looking as if she didn't know they could hear her. "But how?" Before Lloyd could ask who "she" was, Raine had practically sprinted down the stairs and out of the house.

"So where the Hell am I?" he demanded to his "other" self.

"A reflection of your world," the other Lloyd explained quickly. "Only, from what we've heard and seen, your world is farther behind than us."

"What do you mean by seen?" asked Lloyd.

His copy sighed. "A few months ago, Raine invented a mana detector. It was supposed to detect where mana shortages were. Even after we thought it was balanced out, it turned out that some areas were overflowing with mana while others had next to none. And about a month ago, Raine detected huge amounts of mana, almost like another world."

"Mine?" asked Lloyd.

"Yes," said the other. "And when we used the" but suddenly his voice became fuzzy and Lloyd could hear no more.

"What's wrong with your voice?" he asked.

"Natural law."

"What?"

"Whatever I just said, you have not found out yet. It's hard to explain, but when a worlds are reflected, like ours, there is always a time difference. It usually is a while, such as, a year. And well, your body is still adjusted to your time, almost a year ago. And natural law prevents you from learning anything that has not occurred yet."

Lloyd knew that his expression was absolutely confused. The other seem to notice this as well. "I don't even understand it really."

"So, wait, if this natural law thing makes me unable to learn things that haven't happen yet," said Lloyd. "How come your able to tell me about it?"

"Because natural law was established at the beginning of the universe and so it has occurred in universal time and if something occurs in universal time, it then occurs in every world."

"Universal time?"

"I assume you were in the dark world before you came here?"

"Yes."

"That is the core, Radiance, and all worlds span from it. And whatever the time is there is universal time."

Lloyd stared at him. "It's all complicated stuff. I don't understand half of it. But, back to what I was saying. Well, to put it simply, we found a way to make it there, to your world."

"Wait, wouldn't someone notice if someone from another world were there?"

"Well, that's the thing. No one else could make it there. Just...me."

"Yeah, that's the next thing I was going to ask. Why is, that Raine is exactly the same and yet, we're different."

"Yuan hasn't told me everything yet. Raine invented the mana detector, but Yuan's found out more about Radiance. All that he's said is that in reflected worlds, there are reflected people. But, every millennium or so, there are exceptions. The last thing he told me is that they are connected in some way."

"What way?"

"Well, the only hints he gave me were that they were so close, whatever happens to one somehow affects the other. Like this," and he immediately pinched his left arm.

At first Lloyd wondered why he would do that. But a sudden pain in his left arm interrupted his thoughts, almost as if someone had just pinched him there.

"When we're in the same world, if I get hurt, you get hurt. We're different from everyone else. We're doublets."

* * *

Me: Well, that was certainly shorter than I had planned, however school's really piling work on me right now and I figured that I wouldn't have much free time to write anymore and I don't want anyone to riot. I even had to sneak downstairs when I was supposed to be asleep just to write this. So, if you want, think of this as "Part I". Hopefully, I'll have time over the weekend to write but for now all I can say is this: I cannot guarantee when the next chapter will be up. And tomorrow (late at night) I'll be posting previews for the next chapter on my profile, so check it out if you want (Note: Once again, I can't guarantee time again because of different time zones and such.)

Oh and another thing: If you sent me a PM, I'm sorry but my inbox has been wall to wall Spam, so I was forced to delete my entire inbox, so sorry that I could not reply.

P.S.: I'll probably comb through this later for editing, but right now, just enjoy the story because I don't want to keep you waiting any longer.

Oh, and FYI, the girl earlier is not and OC and she's not who you think she is. You'll just have to wait and find out.


	19. Balancing the Underworld

Lloyd: Sheena, I think we have a problem

Lloyd: Sheena, I think we have a problem.

Sheena: What's that?

Lloyd: I think Lynsandria's dead.

Raine: Dammit, the stupid girl, leaving her poor, poor readers hanging like that. Ressurection!!

Lyn: Huh, lol, wut? (looks at horde of angry readers) Well, howdy doody! Listen, I'm not going to give you some type of BS about why I haven't updated in over half a year, like my mom's in the hospital or crap like that. I will tell you the truth, in joke format. So anyway, my main computer's been acting pretty funky as of late, I think it may be an icky, icky virus. But that's not the point, the point is this chapter was ready to post 3 months ago. And, now for the punch line: since my main computer froze up whenever the wind changed direction, I decided to move all my files to the slow, slow laptop. But, there was a problem; I knew I had this chapter done and that it was somewhere, but it wasn't on any of my CDs. And now to the funny part; I just found it yesterday. Guess where it was saved? On a floppy disk, that's right, one of those flat things we used. save stuff on. (realizes that none of the readers are laughing) Aw come on, why so serious?

Heath Ledger: That line's copyrighted.

Lynsandria: Dammit, I don't own that line (hands Mr. Ledger a huge pile of money).

Yuan: Curse you technology scum!

Sheena: shut up Lynsandria and give the readers what they want. Ready…? BEGIN!!

* * *

Chapter 19: Balancing the Underworld

* * *

"Doublets?" replied our Lloyd, looking confused. "What are doublets?"

"I rely don't understand," replied his reflection. "Let's find out where Raine is; she can explain it better than I can." With that, he headed for the stairs, with Lloyd following.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"Colette's house" came the reply.

"The chosen?"

"Yes."

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they found Raine, examining the pouch Lloyd had handed her. "Professor sage," said the boy in red. "Can you explain what doublets are exactly."

Raine looked a tad grumpy at having to leave from her work, but she consented. "What have you told him already?"

"All that I've managed to tell him was that we feel the same things when we're in such close proximity."

"I see, then I have much to tell him," she said. She turned to the young renegade. "Do you know how twins work?" She asked.

"Yeah," was his reply. "They're born at the same time, and sometimes they can be identical, right?"

"That's right." She said. "That's really the closest example of doublets I can come up with. We found cave writings in Radiance explaining some of these things. There are many worlds out there and some, in rare cases, are like our worlds, reflected. Most of the time, the people are completely reflected, matching looks, personality, and even small things like clothes. However, no two worlds can be exactly the same and sometimes, there may be a flaw."

"A flaw?" asked the renegade.

"Yes," she said. "A difference, and that's where doublets come into play. A way to look at it is that everyone in the reflected worlds is an identical twin to themselves in the other world, except for doublets."

"I still don't understand."

"Doublets are the only people different from their otherworldly counterpart," explained his doublet. "People like us."

"Yes," said Raine. "Unlike everyone else, doublets share a thin thread of mana, connecting their souls. Normally, it doesn't affect them that much unless they're together and they never find out unless they travel. One more thing; have you heard of the late pope Augustine?"

"Yes, the pope who isn't acknowledged by the church anymore because he committed suicide?"

"…He didn't commit suicide," replied his doublet, looking confused. "They found nothing wrong with him after the autopsy; no poison, nothing."

"No," said Lloyd, shaking his head. "He committed suicide."

"In your world he did," said Raine quietly. "From my research, I discovered that pope Augustine was actually a doublet."

"What?" asked Lloyd.

"Yes", said Raine. "You see, Maxwell, the summon spirit of birth, creates life that is born in the two worlds. And Pluto, the summon spirit of death, is in charge of keeping balance in the underworld."

"Pluto? Keeping balance in the underworld?"

"I'm sorry this is so confusing," said Raine. "But reflected worlds have to have an equal number of people in the underworld. In other words, if someone died in our world, then someone in your world have to die in order for the balance to be kept."

"What does this have to do with doublets?" asked Lloyd.

"The thread that connects the souls of you two together is there for a reason," Raine continued. "I have no thread connecting me to my counterpart for one reason; Pluto makes the assumption that I'll die at the same time because we're exactly the same. But he can't assume that with you two. Since you're different, you are in different places at different times, and so one of you may avoid a death that the other would experience."

"Okay," said Lloyd. "I'm not sure I understand it all, but continue."

"This is where pope Augustine comes in," said Raine. "Our Augustine died of unknown reasons, but yours committed suicide. Perhaps something happen to yours that didn't to ours, causing him to take his life. But ours died as well."

"Yes, why's that?"

"The thread tied between you two disappears when one of you dies. Without that tie, your body short circuits because it doesn't know how to operate without that thread and…you die."

There was a long silence that filled the room. Minutes dragged on like hours until finally, the doublet spoke. "So…why does Pluto do this? Does he enjoy people dying or something?"

"I don't want you to think of Pluto as a bad person," whispered Raine, loud enough for the two boys to hear. "He's not. He's just blamed because of his job…but someone has to do it."

"So if Sheena makes a pact with Pluto…" said the renegade.

"No…" said Raine sadly. "There is no way to avoid death, even a pact with Pluto."

"I see," said Lloyd. "Then…when you die…will the Raine in my world die?"

"This is where we know very little information," explained Raine. "However, since I share no thread of life with my counterpart, if, somehow, I were to be in the right place at the right time, I could live on while she was dead. And this is also where it gets especially difficult to understand…"

"What was that thing you said earlier about balance in the underworld."

"Yes, this is what I'm talking about," she said, hesitantly. "Back to the example I just gave. I'm alive, but my counterpart isn't. We have no thread connecting us so I live on. But the underworld of your world has one more person. This means…that someone in our world…has to die, to balance things out."

Another long pause followed. Finally Lloyd spoke up. "I know you said not to hate Pluto, he has to do this. But can't he do anything, so that no one has to die for anyone else?"

"No Lloyd," she said. "It's impossible to change it. The need for balance is much, much stronger, than a mere summon spirits powers."

* * *

The next day, Lloyd was awakened by loud noises downstairs. Groggily, he slumped downstairs to see what was going on downstairs. "Do I have to wear a tux?" his doublet complained loudly.

"Zelos said he wanted things to be formal," said Raine, impatiently forcing the coat on him. "You can change once it's over."

"I hate tuxes, they're so uncomfortable," the other Lloyd said, defeated. Lloyd silently agreed with him.

"What's going on?" asked the renegade.

"Oh, excellent!" said Raine. "I found the way to reverse the spell on the pouch so you can go back to your world."

"Thanks, but what's going on?"

"Zelos is getting married," said the other Lloyd. "Do I have to wear dress shoes? They give me blisters."

_Me too_ the renegade thought.

"You can take them off after the ceremony," said Raine. "I'm sorry it's such a rushed goodbye, but we really have to leave soon and you can't stay here for too long, I'm sure you want to get home. Touch the pouch when you're ready."

"Can I ask you something?" asked the renegade.

"Yes" said Raine.

"Whose Zelos getting married to?"

"I'm not sure I can answer that, natural law may interfere."

"Just try it," said the other Lloyd, scratching at his skin beneath the itchy fabric.

"Well, alright, he's getting married to Sheena," said Raine, her voice as clear as ever.

It had the same affect of a bomb dropping in the middle of the room. "What the Hell? That bastard, I'll kill him," shouted the renegade suddenly. Just like the day before, a long, awkward pause followed this. Lloyd realized just how sudden his outburst had come and turned a bright shade of red. Before anyone could question him he grabbed the pouch and immediately felt a pulling sensation.

* * *

Lyn: Oh, you see what I did thar? I just threw in Pluto from Tales of Phantasia. What now?

Yuan:…I'm sure that's copyrighted somewhere. To be safe, Lynsandria does not own Tale of Symphonia, Phantasia, Eternia, Destiny, or any Tales games that you can make up. If she did, she would be on some resort right now and this story wouldn't exist.

Sheena: Finally you throw in a Sheloyd moment, I was beginning to think this was in the wrong category.

Lyn: Soo, anyway, in all honesty, I am sorry that I haven't updated since we had a blue moon and I hope this chapter is as good as everyone has hoped. We all know by now that I'm unreliable as to when new chapters will come out, but I hope that it will not be in a year, or however long I was offline. Also, I will update the preview of next chapter on my profile. I'm sorry that everything was confusing these past few chapters, I tried to make it easier to tell which Lloyd was which…I'm sorry if I failed you.


End file.
